No 4am Wake Up Call For Me

I wanted to wake up insanely early to go to the Supreme Court tomorrow to see the oral arguments in Snyder v. Phelps, the case where a church group goes around protesting at the funerals of servicemen because they believe that people are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan because of America's tolerance of homosexuals and got sued. It pits the First Amendment against the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress. Very interesting stuff. Unfortunately, I am aware that around 50 people are already camped outside of the Court, waiting to get in at 9:30 tomorrow morning. First, that is very intense of them, and they are in for a night of rain, cement, and misery. Second, that means that even if I chose to join their slumber party this minute, I still would not get into the Court tomorrow morning. And you thought the wait time at Six Flags was bad! I am contemplating getting up tomorrow to go see the protesters outside of the Court, but that is unimportant enough that my desire for slumber will likely triumph.

It is official. I have a job. Huge sigh of relief. How ever will I fill my mandatory stress level now? What about worrying about other people? Done. I am now sending out positive energy. Or, as much positive energy as I am capable of mustering. Which might not be a lot compared to other people. Sorry. I really am trying...

I was talking about it, but it does occur to me, does Gogurt still exist? Was there a sufficient market for easily portable pouches of yogurt that it survives to this day?

Each day I find myself waking up with progressively less motivation to do inane work. I don't want to read a 7 page case which will be boiled down into a one sentence rule for the final. I don't want to listen to a 45-minute lecture about originalism in constitutional law that we already heard most of last week. And I don't want to write an explanation of how a note topic centered around Iran is not centered around the US. Thank you, law school, for the hours of fun.

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.

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.

A letter to cover letters

Dear Cover Letters,

I have a great deal of experience applying for jobs. I have applied for dozens of jobs throughout my life, including three today. I have no problem with the idea job applications. I enjoy formatting my resume, reading about the exciting opportunities to which I may soon have access, and even sorting through endless lists of jobs. Finding references and creating a writing sample may not be the most glamorous activities, but I accept them as relevant and necessary. Employers understandably want to know that I am not some hooligan frivolously applying for a position and that I know how to adequately construct a sentence. These requirements must weed out some applicants.

What I do not appreciate or understand is an employer's demand for a cover letter. Each letter be tailored to the particular job for which I am applying, emphasizing the skills enumerated in the job description or describing my relevant job experience. Honestly, I have little to no relevant job experience, most likely. But I am not unique in this regard. Most people do not. That is why they do not have that position yet. If they had the exact qualifications the employer was looking for, then chances are that they would not be currently applying for that job.

Additionally, it is absolutely impossible to write a cover letter well. Good writing and cover letters do not mix ever. Cover letters are dedicated to being self-important, which automatically starts them out at a disadvantage. They use active verbs, which end up sounding too strong and sometimes to stretching the truth or outright lying. And just about every sentence starts with "I am" or "I did," which ends up reading like a forth grader's homework assignment about what they did over the weekend. What purpose cover letters serve is somewhat beyond me. I am clearly interested in this job, that is why I am applying. I am providing a writing sample, reference list, and resume, which will give you about as much information as you could want when deciding to hire me or not. Plus, employers will likely glance at my cover letter for a grand total of twelve seconds after I spent thirty-five minutes agonizing over verb tense. This is a waste of my time. No one will ever know if my verb tense is completely consistent because no one will ever read my cover letter that thoroughly. As long as it does not throw up any red flags, what is the point of painstaking precision? I have no good answer. The only conclusion is that the concept of cover letters should be abolished.

Sincerely,

Me