J.D. Salinger died today. "Catcher in the Rye" is my favorite book, as cliche as that might be. Though I might not want to be friends with him, I love Holden Caulfield. The book's themes of youth and alienation really spoke to me when I first read it (seventh grade, I believe), as well as in subsequent readings. I also love "Nine Stories," particularly "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "For Esme With Love and Squalor." Salinger was a master wordsmith, and had a great intuition for human nature. By and large, he was not a sappy or obvious writer. I still have absolutely no idea what to make of "Bananafish." But I like that. It means you can take many things away from it. His writing is multifaceted, full of new things to notice and identify with. Also, it is weird that I mentioned that I love J.D. Salinger in my post last night. I'll chalk that up to being plain creepy. One thing's for sure. Salinger wasn't a phony. (Obvious joke.)
That was sad. Also, Howard Zinn died. Somehow "People's History" didn't have the same emotional appeal. The characters weren't as full. Still, it was a good book, and he was an influential man.
Who is the third going to be?
I watched the finals of a really prestigious moot court competition at school today. It was about free exercise and religious school being converted into charter schools. Interesting stuff actually. But the competition was judged by...real judges. Big time ones too. Two judges from the Ninth Circuit and one from the Second. They weren't messing around. If I were one of the competitors I might have had a nervous breakdown on stage or lost all bowel control. Things would have been bad. But everyone kept their composure and did a good job. Apparently a few years ago the panel was then-Judge Sotomayor, Judge Calabresi, and Justice Scalia. I would have just dropped dead, were I competing. Good thing I'm not! Suckers! No pressure on me. If that isn't motivation not to compete in moot court, I don't know what is. That's just stress I don't need at this juncture in my life. I don't need a premature heart attack. Though there is a large amount of prestige associated with it too. Hrmmm. I like it when people know how awesome I am. (Thus this blog, to some extent.) Conundrum.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
He Shall, From Time to Time, Eat Cookies?
State of the Union was tonight. It left me with mixed feelings. I definitely do not support everything that President Obama said. He threw a lot of bones to conservatives on jobs, the economy, taxes, nuclear energy, and offshore drilling. At the same time he talked about clean energy, green jobs, education, health care reform, and, incredibly, Don't Ask Don't Tell. Some of those things might now play so well with most conservatives. He also probably offended a few professions (bankers and lobbyists come to mind...also terrorists). He additionally reminded Congress that they have to do some governing once in a while. Democrats, you still have 59 seats. There is no excuse for not legislating, even if you have to make politically risky decisions once in a while. Republicans, you can't just be obstructionists and score cheap political points; that's not why you were elected to Congress. I like that stuff. Also, if there's one thing in contemporary politics you can count on it is the Obama speech writing staff. They are fantastic. And Vice-President Biden being goofy on camera. I thought at one point he was going to lose it laughing in the background.
There are not enough hours in the day. Between eating, sleeping, procrastinating, watching the State of the Union, working, going to class, procrastinating, playing facebook scrabble, and eating more, I just don't have time to do everything. But apparently I have time to update my blog. Curious.
I was in a talk today (about the client counseling competition I'm doing this weekend) and everyone around me was coughing every 2 seconds. It drove me absolutely nuts. I was trying to pay attention to some guy in a suit talking about something (you can tell that it really got through to me), and all I can focus on is the germs everyone is spreading and, more importantly, the disruption everyone is causing. I mean, I know yawning is contagious, but coughing? Seriously guys, you can control it. Lock it up. And I seriously doubt that 15 people in a room of 30 have colds or illnesses that truly necessitate that degree of coughing.
Next week for LRW we have 5 minute oral arguments. They are ungraded. I am seriously considering doing my oral argument in a JFK accent. First, it would be amusing to me. Second, it could be amusing to others. Third, it would probably piss of my professor. And fourth (actually what gave me the idea), the accent is a lot slower, giving me a lot more time to think before I speak. "Your honor, ask not what my client can do for you, ask instead what you can do for my client. You can grant her motion to suppress evidence, to begin with..." Better than trying to do it in a Russian accent!
A very merry unbirthday to you. Except you, Caitlin. You don't get an unbirthday today.
I sent in another application today! To Attorney General Martha Coakley. She's probably in a really good mood these days and totally wants to hire me as an intern for the summer. At least that's what I'm hoping. Someone suggested I go work for Scott Brown this summer since he doesn't have interns yet. I think I laughed in their face. The little 'R' next to his name is a likely problem for me. As are many of his views. Here's one that I have a problem with: making women pay for their own rape kits. Not cool, man.
There are not enough hours in the day. Between eating, sleeping, procrastinating, watching the State of the Union, working, going to class, procrastinating, playing facebook scrabble, and eating more, I just don't have time to do everything. But apparently I have time to update my blog. Curious.
I was in a talk today (about the client counseling competition I'm doing this weekend) and everyone around me was coughing every 2 seconds. It drove me absolutely nuts. I was trying to pay attention to some guy in a suit talking about something (you can tell that it really got through to me), and all I can focus on is the germs everyone is spreading and, more importantly, the disruption everyone is causing. I mean, I know yawning is contagious, but coughing? Seriously guys, you can control it. Lock it up. And I seriously doubt that 15 people in a room of 30 have colds or illnesses that truly necessitate that degree of coughing.
Next week for LRW we have 5 minute oral arguments. They are ungraded. I am seriously considering doing my oral argument in a JFK accent. First, it would be amusing to me. Second, it could be amusing to others. Third, it would probably piss of my professor. And fourth (actually what gave me the idea), the accent is a lot slower, giving me a lot more time to think before I speak. "Your honor, ask not what my client can do for you, ask instead what you can do for my client. You can grant her motion to suppress evidence, to begin with..." Better than trying to do it in a Russian accent!
A very merry unbirthday to you. Except you, Caitlin. You don't get an unbirthday today.
I sent in another application today! To Attorney General Martha Coakley. She's probably in a really good mood these days and totally wants to hire me as an intern for the summer. At least that's what I'm hoping. Someone suggested I go work for Scott Brown this summer since he doesn't have interns yet. I think I laughed in their face. The little 'R' next to his name is a likely problem for me. As are many of his views. Here's one that I have a problem with: making women pay for their own rape kits. Not cool, man.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sorry about the bottom of this one
Today brought more people complaining about how they have to use their brains in Con Law. I am not impressed. Though I am impressed with the inventiveness of Congress to use the Interstate Commerce Clause to justify enforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, if not extremely persuaded by their argument. Seems like a 14th Amendment issue. But that only applies to states, not private businesses. Oh, right. There's a possibility that the Civil Rights Act is unconstitutional. Uh oh. Alright, I'm not actually that concerned. I don't think it's going anywhere. It's not like the Supreme Court has made any huge decisions recently that have been exactly wrong. Oh wait.
Speaking of the Citizens United decision, it was pointed out to me today that foreign businesses and even foreign government can now fund elections. That just doesn't seem like a) a good idea, or b) covered by the First Amendment.
I spent 11 hours at school today, and it's not finals. That's a bad sign. Luckily I got a lot done. But not enough. Still have a lot of my motion brief for LRW. Still have to send out applications until I get a job. Still have to solve the Middle East Conflict. One of those things was actually beyond the scope of what I need to do. No hints as to which one.
I am applying for a job with the New York Mets (in the legal department, though the way their team is shaping up they might have an opening for me in right field). That would be a baller job for the summer. "What did you do over the summer?" "I sat around a judge's chambers and was his whipping boy for 40 hours a week. But I improved my writing skills! How about you?" "Oh, just kicked it around Citi Field with the New York Mets." Writing skills vs. baseball. Baseball clearly wins every time. Though judging by this blog, maybe I could stand to improve my writing skills...damn my inarticulateness-ism-ed-ing-more suffixes.
As long as I'm being nerdy, I don't mind sharing that I am reading a book about important American Cold War era diplomats, and Dean Acheson is the man! Wow. That actually couldn't be nerdier. Unless I wrote a fantasy piece about Dean Acheson applying his experiences in the State Department to negotiate a secret treaty between Mordor and Gondor so that together they could rule Middle Earth. No. I'm totally done. Wow. That was too far. I'm actually tempted to delete this paragraph. But I'm not doing it because I love stream of conscious writing. It has something to do with my love of J.D. Salinger. It's complicated. Don't ask. Don't judge me. aaaaaaand scene.
Speaking of the Citizens United decision, it was pointed out to me today that foreign businesses and even foreign government can now fund elections. That just doesn't seem like a) a good idea, or b) covered by the First Amendment.
I spent 11 hours at school today, and it's not finals. That's a bad sign. Luckily I got a lot done. But not enough. Still have a lot of my motion brief for LRW. Still have to send out applications until I get a job. Still have to solve the Middle East Conflict. One of those things was actually beyond the scope of what I need to do. No hints as to which one.
I am applying for a job with the New York Mets (in the legal department, though the way their team is shaping up they might have an opening for me in right field). That would be a baller job for the summer. "What did you do over the summer?" "I sat around a judge's chambers and was his whipping boy for 40 hours a week. But I improved my writing skills! How about you?" "Oh, just kicked it around Citi Field with the New York Mets." Writing skills vs. baseball. Baseball clearly wins every time. Though judging by this blog, maybe I could stand to improve my writing skills...damn my inarticulateness-ism-ed-ing-more suffixes.
As long as I'm being nerdy, I don't mind sharing that I am reading a book about important American Cold War era diplomats, and Dean Acheson is the man! Wow. That actually couldn't be nerdier. Unless I wrote a fantasy piece about Dean Acheson applying his experiences in the State Department to negotiate a secret treaty between Mordor and Gondor so that together they could rule Middle Earth. No. I'm totally done. Wow. That was too far. I'm actually tempted to delete this paragraph. But I'm not doing it because I love stream of conscious writing. It has something to do with my love of J.D. Salinger. It's complicated. Don't ask. Don't judge me. aaaaaaand scene.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Biggest Flaw
On a job interview (which I wish I had), I hate the question "What is your biggest flaw?" So far the best answer I've been able to come up with is, "My biggest flaw is that I'm not good at identifying flaws in myself." I wonder how an interviewer would react to that. Probably not well. Unless they were awesome, had a sense of humor, and realized that they asked me a dumb question. Really, what are they hoping to get out of that question? Are they looking for humility? I have no idea.
G-Day, the day where we storm the beaches of Normandy and receive our grades, went over pretty well. Of course I still am missing 2 of my 5 grades. My Criminal Law professor I can sort of understand. He had two sections of students, so over 150 total. That could take a while. My Torts professor, however, (yes, the infamous Torts professor) is still losing points in my book for once again demonstrating just how much he doesn't care about his students. Torts was my small section. It was a class of 35. It was also the exam we took first, so he had that much extra time. Dude, you get paid to be a professor and to grade our exams. Just do it. Get it over with. Give us our grades back so when we send in transcripts to potential employers we don't have to explain why we don't have all of our grades back. I have to do that. I'm holding out a couple more days on printing out my transcript, on the off-chance that we actually get the grade. Until the bitter end!
I got cold-called today in Civil Procedure. And Friday in Contracts. And Wednesday in Constitutional Law. So within 4 days of classes I got cold-called in 3 of 4 possible classes. Conspiracy? Luck? Anti-luck? Who knows. But I don't have to read carefully in any of those classes for a while! That's not to say that I won't read carefully. Just saying I could slack off if I were so inclined.
Lots of people are complaining about Con Law. **Begin whining here** There aren't clear rules for the professor to just tell them. It seems so argumentative and subjective. The Constitution isn't clear. Some of the cases are old and not written in contemporary English. My stomach hurts. John Marshall is a poopface. **End whining here**
Their biggest gripe is basically that they have to think about the issues for themselves and can't simply memorize a list or rules. How terrible. I love it! This is why I went to law school. I get to think about both sides, form an opinion, and find reasons to back it up (and yell at everyone who disagrees because they are clearly wrong). It's fantastic. So much better when there isn't a rule which is the end-all answer. Come up with your own argument and think things through. Don't strain yourself by working too hard, griping classmates.
G-Day, the day where we storm the beaches of Normandy and receive our grades, went over pretty well. Of course I still am missing 2 of my 5 grades. My Criminal Law professor I can sort of understand. He had two sections of students, so over 150 total. That could take a while. My Torts professor, however, (yes, the infamous Torts professor) is still losing points in my book for once again demonstrating just how much he doesn't care about his students. Torts was my small section. It was a class of 35. It was also the exam we took first, so he had that much extra time. Dude, you get paid to be a professor and to grade our exams. Just do it. Get it over with. Give us our grades back so when we send in transcripts to potential employers we don't have to explain why we don't have all of our grades back. I have to do that. I'm holding out a couple more days on printing out my transcript, on the off-chance that we actually get the grade. Until the bitter end!
I got cold-called today in Civil Procedure. And Friday in Contracts. And Wednesday in Constitutional Law. So within 4 days of classes I got cold-called in 3 of 4 possible classes. Conspiracy? Luck? Anti-luck? Who knows. But I don't have to read carefully in any of those classes for a while! That's not to say that I won't read carefully. Just saying I could slack off if I were so inclined.
Lots of people are complaining about Con Law. **Begin whining here** There aren't clear rules for the professor to just tell them. It seems so argumentative and subjective. The Constitution isn't clear. Some of the cases are old and not written in contemporary English. My stomach hurts. John Marshall is a poopface. **End whining here**
Their biggest gripe is basically that they have to think about the issues for themselves and can't simply memorize a list or rules. How terrible. I love it! This is why I went to law school. I get to think about both sides, form an opinion, and find reasons to back it up (and yell at everyone who disagrees because they are clearly wrong). It's fantastic. So much better when there isn't a rule which is the end-all answer. Come up with your own argument and think things through. Don't strain yourself by working too hard, griping classmates.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Fun Fact
Also, yesterday I was listening to the Clash, and I realized something. The song "Paper Planes" by MIA samples (heavily) the song "Straight to Hell" by The Clash on their album Combat Rock. The first 20 seconds. Listen to it. For serious. Wikipedia apparently knew about this. But I didn't. I discovered it for myself. Fun fact.
1 Company, 1 Vote
Thank you, Supreme Court, for ruling McCain-Feingold unconstitutional. I know that corporate sponsored candidates are exactly what our founding fathers had in mind when they were drafting the ol' First Amendment. After all the text does protect freedom to buy elections. Wait, what's that? It just says freedom of speech? And money isn't speech? Get outta here. My money talks to me all the time. It says things like "Bet on the Texans to win the Superbowl," and "Eat twelve pounds of fertilizer." Stupid crap like that. So why would I want to listen to it? But money isn't the same thing as speech. Money is a medium through which we can purchase commodities and services. Like elections. Sweet. That's how we can further disenfranchise the people who are already at the bottom of society. Because what we really need is our leaders to be looking out for corporate interests, rather than protecting those who have the fewest protections and the most need.
Me: The First Amendment does NOT protect the political speech for corporations.
Other: But we treat corporations as legal entities. They have other legal rights.
Me: But, unlike real people, they can't vote.
Other: Oh. Right. So they don't have the same vested interest in freedom of political speech?
Me: Exactly.
Other: So their political speech doesn't seem like it needs to be protected in the same way.
Me: Right.
Other: Because all they have to speak about is their interests. And allowing them to 'speak' is more like business promotion and profit maximization than political speech.
Me: Now you are catching on. If only the Supreme Court would.
Next on the Supreme Court docket: a reconsideration of Dred Scott. (Legit, a commentator called this the worst decision since Dred Scott.)
Also, Massachusetts, my native land, my love, the bedrock of liberalism in this country. ARE YOU SMOKING CRACK?!?!?! Did you not see the "R" next to Scott Brown's name on the ballot? Words (at least non-profane words) cannot express my shock, dismay, and anger. Then again, Coakley ran a beyond awful campaign. She acted like she didn't want to be a Senator. Way to take a month off of campaigning. You don't get to do that when you are running for a seat in the United States Senate. This isn't an election for class president where you have the best hair. Whatever. It's fine. It really is a referendum on the current state of politics. Once again the Democrats have shown no backbone. And the Republicans have acted as obstructionists and won. Dems, time to play by the same rules. Throw some elbows. Get down and dirty. Maybe even get some legislation passed. It wouldn't kill you to do a little governing as long as you are in power. That does double for President Obama. I love the guy. I love the party. But this is floundering is ridiculous. Democrats look like...well...flounders. The fish. And not the one that a hot mermaid chills with.
Why are 60 Democrats equal to 51 Republicans? It's just not right.
My prescription for the Democrats is simple.
1) Transparency - you can't have 7 different copies of the same bill floating around that are each 2000 pages. Of course everyone is going to be suspicious of that. I pay attention to politics and I don't even know much of what is in the Senate and House health care bills. Keep it simple. "Here's how many more people are covered, here's what it does for existing health care plans, here's how much it costs. It's good. You'll love it." Keep it simple, keep it transparent.
2) Jobs - everyone wants one and there ain't enough to go around. Even if you don't have a good answer, at least try to have one. That's what people want you to talk about. You need people to win elections. Winning elections is important to your survival. Talk about jobs.
I'm full of anger. Other things too, like worrying about getting a job for the summer. But mostly anger. And internal organs.
Me: The First Amendment does NOT protect the political speech for corporations.
Other: But we treat corporations as legal entities. They have other legal rights.
Me: But, unlike real people, they can't vote.
Other: Oh. Right. So they don't have the same vested interest in freedom of political speech?
Me: Exactly.
Other: So their political speech doesn't seem like it needs to be protected in the same way.
Me: Right.
Other: Because all they have to speak about is their interests. And allowing them to 'speak' is more like business promotion and profit maximization than political speech.
Me: Now you are catching on. If only the Supreme Court would.
Next on the Supreme Court docket: a reconsideration of Dred Scott. (Legit, a commentator called this the worst decision since Dred Scott.)
Also, Massachusetts, my native land, my love, the bedrock of liberalism in this country. ARE YOU SMOKING CRACK?!?!?! Did you not see the "R" next to Scott Brown's name on the ballot? Words (at least non-profane words) cannot express my shock, dismay, and anger. Then again, Coakley ran a beyond awful campaign. She acted like she didn't want to be a Senator. Way to take a month off of campaigning. You don't get to do that when you are running for a seat in the United States Senate. This isn't an election for class president where you have the best hair. Whatever. It's fine. It really is a referendum on the current state of politics. Once again the Democrats have shown no backbone. And the Republicans have acted as obstructionists and won. Dems, time to play by the same rules. Throw some elbows. Get down and dirty. Maybe even get some legislation passed. It wouldn't kill you to do a little governing as long as you are in power. That does double for President Obama. I love the guy. I love the party. But this is floundering is ridiculous. Democrats look like...well...flounders. The fish. And not the one that a hot mermaid chills with.
Why are 60 Democrats equal to 51 Republicans? It's just not right.
My prescription for the Democrats is simple.
1) Transparency - you can't have 7 different copies of the same bill floating around that are each 2000 pages. Of course everyone is going to be suspicious of that. I pay attention to politics and I don't even know much of what is in the Senate and House health care bills. Keep it simple. "Here's how many more people are covered, here's what it does for existing health care plans, here's how much it costs. It's good. You'll love it." Keep it simple, keep it transparent.
2) Jobs - everyone wants one and there ain't enough to go around. Even if you don't have a good answer, at least try to have one. That's what people want you to talk about. You need people to win elections. Winning elections is important to your survival. Talk about jobs.
I'm full of anger. Other things too, like worrying about getting a job for the summer. But mostly anger. And internal organs.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Writing writing on my bike
I woke up this morning with a sore throat which has gradually receded over the course of the day. But it was a good enough excuse for me not to work out today. Hm. I'm becoming slightly concerned about my own laziness. Well, I did a lot of schoolwork, writing about 6 pages of my memo. So all that is due tomorrow, which is all that's important. I also applied to two jobs. That seems like a lot for a day where I didn't get out of bed until noon.
Thursday I went to Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant, with Jason, Rachel, and Josh. It was restaurant week, so we got a 4 course meal for "cheap." Courses went cheese, salad, meat, chocolate. It was good, but not my favorite. I mean, I wouldn't go there regularly. All the food was high quality, there were tons of options, and it tasted good (particularly the fillet mignon). But I had to work so damn hard for it. I cook every day for myself. I don't want to go out and pay a crapton of money to cook for myself too. I could just go to the grocery store, buy pretty much the same stuff, and then cook it in a slightly less-efficient pot of boiling whatever I'm dipping it in. Or I could buy a fondue pot and act like I'm so cool and retro, then never use it because I clearly would prefer other food to fondue. No disrespect to the restaurant. It's an experience I'm glad to have, and it was delicious. But, paradoxically, I don't want to do it again really.
After Melting Pot I went to bar review. The highlight was clearly this girl in my class doing the dance to "Single Ladies." She was spot on. I mean, she was no Beyonce. Not even a little close. But still, that's impressive. And no one is Beyonce.
This weekend Eva came to visit, which was awfully nice of her. Granted, her sister also lives here, so I can accuse her of mixed motives, but that's just fine. Friday night we went out with some fun people to Sign of the Whale. It's a nice bar close by, that I've actually never been to. So that was a good experience. In addition to the regular top 40 crap that everywhere plays they played a good deal of 80's music. You could say it shook me all night long. Until 3 am when I got jumbo slice with Carissa. Always a good choice. $4 for basically a quarter of a pizza. How could you not at 3 am? There's no downside. Also, at Sign of the Whale, it was a bartender's last night and she clearly did not care about anything. She gave away free drinks to her friends (not just any free drinks, Patron and Johnnie Walker), and charged arbitrarily low prices ($10 for two shots and a beer, you've got a deal!). Not to mention, she was actually incredible at being a bartender - I watched her make the fastest Long Island Iced Tea ever. I was impressed.
Saturday I went out to a party in Virginia. Really? Virginia? Didn't the secede? That's gross. Actually it wasn't bad. It was pretty fun. It's Beirut, not beer pong, though. Most people are confused, I've noticed. There's more to Saturday than that, I'm sure, but I can't think of it at the moment.
Thursday I went to Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant, with Jason, Rachel, and Josh. It was restaurant week, so we got a 4 course meal for "cheap." Courses went cheese, salad, meat, chocolate. It was good, but not my favorite. I mean, I wouldn't go there regularly. All the food was high quality, there were tons of options, and it tasted good (particularly the fillet mignon). But I had to work so damn hard for it. I cook every day for myself. I don't want to go out and pay a crapton of money to cook for myself too. I could just go to the grocery store, buy pretty much the same stuff, and then cook it in a slightly less-efficient pot of boiling whatever I'm dipping it in. Or I could buy a fondue pot and act like I'm so cool and retro, then never use it because I clearly would prefer other food to fondue. No disrespect to the restaurant. It's an experience I'm glad to have, and it was delicious. But, paradoxically, I don't want to do it again really.
After Melting Pot I went to bar review. The highlight was clearly this girl in my class doing the dance to "Single Ladies." She was spot on. I mean, she was no Beyonce. Not even a little close. But still, that's impressive. And no one is Beyonce.
This weekend Eva came to visit, which was awfully nice of her. Granted, her sister also lives here, so I can accuse her of mixed motives, but that's just fine. Friday night we went out with some fun people to Sign of the Whale. It's a nice bar close by, that I've actually never been to. So that was a good experience. In addition to the regular top 40 crap that everywhere plays they played a good deal of 80's music. You could say it shook me all night long. Until 3 am when I got jumbo slice with Carissa. Always a good choice. $4 for basically a quarter of a pizza. How could you not at 3 am? There's no downside. Also, at Sign of the Whale, it was a bartender's last night and she clearly did not care about anything. She gave away free drinks to her friends (not just any free drinks, Patron and Johnnie Walker), and charged arbitrarily low prices ($10 for two shots and a beer, you've got a deal!). Not to mention, she was actually incredible at being a bartender - I watched her make the fastest Long Island Iced Tea ever. I was impressed.
Saturday I went out to a party in Virginia. Really? Virginia? Didn't the secede? That's gross. Actually it wasn't bad. It was pretty fun. It's Beirut, not beer pong, though. Most people are confused, I've noticed. There's more to Saturday than that, I'm sure, but I can't think of it at the moment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)