Well, I don't know how to say this but...I'm pregnant. . . . . . . April Fools! Oh haha, I bet you were freaking out. What a hilarious joke. Sadly that was my first and only prank this April Fools Day - if you can call that a prank (some would say it's a cry for help). My roommate has been away for a few days as a Mock Trial tournament in Chicago. I was considering covering one of his walls with mirrors. I thought it would be funny, but other people disagreed. So I nixed it. April Fools Day seems to be a dying art.
I spent most of this weekend being academically-minded. My goal was to get a very rough draft of my Antitrust paper done by the end of the weekend. I succeeded. Huzzah! I also have to go back and make sure anything I said makes sense but that is Future Will's problem.
Saturday I accompanied Ron and his team to see the Jessup final round. In a classic Cold War match up, we had Moscow versus Columbia (university, not country). Just like the Cold War, Moscow won (wait, what?) but best oralist went to Columbia. It was good to see the top two teams, to see what makes great oral advocacy. This could not have been more in contrast to the 1L moot court competition I had to judge this afternoon. Actually the 1Ls I saw were surprisingly good. I was going to play the role of Justice Thomas (" ") or be a jerk, but I ended up being a benevolent judge. It's good resume building for being a benevolent dictator of a small island nation, preferably.
DC needs to get good non-gourmet pizza. Good take-out pizza.
So generally at the internal moot court competitions, they serve the judges a nice lunch. Usually sandwiches from Corner Bakery with some coffee, Diet Coke, and cookies. I had just run and I was excited to scoop some turkey avocado. Instead there was Sprite and pizza. Bad pizza. Cardboard pizza. Tiny little flat slices so greasy they stuck to the box pizza. What the hell is that?
Later today, I went to Damien's to begin the new season of "Game of Thrones." I was pumped because not only was the show starting back up, they were going to have a bar-b-q. They did not. They ordered pizza. Not quite as gross, but still bad pizza. I'd give it a 3. (Dear pizza company, pizza traditionally comes with more than a hint of cheese. It's not like Hint of Lime Tostitos.) What I'm saying is that DC needs to clean up its act and get some pizza that doesn't require you to be hammered at 1 am to taste good.
At the behest of Ron and his teammates, Friday night I went to Russia House. This time I actually remember it clearly. It still has huge Russian guys in black just standing there. "You need to move drink." "Yessir. I will move my drink." I've never felt so simultaneously safe and unsafe. The entire thing makes you wonder if it's a front. But I felt right at home because they were playing "The Patriot" on the tv. Talk about a mismatch. Really Russia House has hilarious Eurotrash. And Russian house music grows on you after a while. I'm not proud to admit it, but it's true.
Showing posts with label moot court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moot court. Show all posts
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Occupy Shawlstreet.
Where does time go? I feel like there is never time to do anything. And I also feel like I never get anything done. Conundrum. Oh, I know. No time!
I want to open an investment bank called "Our Children's Future." The advertising writes itself. And it's so inspiring.
At least I'm not sick anymore. I can do fun things like mimosa brunch (last Sunday with Ryan, Jess, and Kait). Mimosa brunch really messes up the rest of the day. You have only two choices. Take a nap or keep drinking. I had to work on my moot court brief, so napping wasn't an option. I just had to keep drinking beer, watching football, and writing a section of my brief. Of course, the next morning I had to rewrite most of that section. But I got one really good paragraph that I didn't have to change. I must have been really focusing for that one. But the brief is done and turned in. Huge relief.
What will you do now that the brief is done, I was asked. That's a good question. Probably do my regular homework. I'll actually do my reading, rather than simply just looking at the pages. I'll try to teach myself Evidence, since my professor doesn't seem up to the task. And I'll do practical things like laundry and cleaning. I need time for that stuff. It took me a week to replace my toothpaste! I kept doing that thing where you squeeze the heck out of the entire tube just to get enough to brush your teeth. Oral hygiene shouldn't require that much of a struggle.
With Yom Kippur last weekend, I have had four or five days where I was unable to eat solid food in the past three months. That's a lot. I still really appreciate solid food. I take that as an excuse to eat lots of Pop Tarts.
I want to open an investment bank called "Our Children's Future." The advertising writes itself. And it's so inspiring.
At least I'm not sick anymore. I can do fun things like mimosa brunch (last Sunday with Ryan, Jess, and Kait). Mimosa brunch really messes up the rest of the day. You have only two choices. Take a nap or keep drinking. I had to work on my moot court brief, so napping wasn't an option. I just had to keep drinking beer, watching football, and writing a section of my brief. Of course, the next morning I had to rewrite most of that section. But I got one really good paragraph that I didn't have to change. I must have been really focusing for that one. But the brief is done and turned in. Huge relief.
What will you do now that the brief is done, I was asked. That's a good question. Probably do my regular homework. I'll actually do my reading, rather than simply just looking at the pages. I'll try to teach myself Evidence, since my professor doesn't seem up to the task. And I'll do practical things like laundry and cleaning. I need time for that stuff. It took me a week to replace my toothpaste! I kept doing that thing where you squeeze the heck out of the entire tube just to get enough to brush your teeth. Oral hygiene shouldn't require that much of a struggle.
With Yom Kippur last weekend, I have had four or five days where I was unable to eat solid food in the past three months. That's a lot. I still really appreciate solid food. I take that as an excuse to eat lots of Pop Tarts.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Another Convert; I Win
I woke up this morning feeling somewhat dissimilar to P-Diddy. Perhaps that's because I woke up before 8 am despite the fact that it was Sunday morning. Ugh. Round 3 of moot court was slated for 9:30. I got to school at 8:45, did a mock argument with Tracy for a warm up, then did my actual argument. I didn't think it went incredibly. Not as good as yesterday. Plus I had an extremely petulant judge who would not quit with his abrasive questioning. He interrupted my answer to another judge's question to ask me some inane question. Multiple times. There were three judges, one asked me maybe 2 questions, the second about 3 questions, and this one probably 17 questions. Many of the questions were completely preposterous and irrelevant. He did the same thing to my opposing counsel, who also felt he was more than a tad overbearing. I thought maybe it was supposed to be this way because it's the final round of the competition and it's supposed to be more difficult. Nope, turns out he's just a self-important jerk. In the feedback portion (after the arguments are over) he was the only judge who felt the need to introduce himself and tell us that he was a 3L in charge of some clinic. He's kind of a big deal, I was very impressed. Nope. I was far more impressed that I didn't lash out at him during my argument: "Your honor, that question is completely off topic, inapplicable to the facts of this case, and was delivered with a smug hint of superiority which neither I, my opposing counsel, or your fellow judges appreciate." Wouldn't that have been great? Instead I stood there, sucked it up, and dealt with it. Apparently I dealt with it well enough - I made moot court board. Woo, another thing to throw on my resume. I can also now represent my school in external moot court competitions should I so choose - not likely.
A lot of my friends made it to the third round but did not ultimately make board. I felt bad for them, they put in a lot of work and I'm sure they did really well. It's ultimately such a subjective judgment. In this regard, announcing your accomplishments on facebook is a pretty tacky thing to do, and one which is certain not to win you any friends. We all see that your name is on the list, you don't have to rub it in everyone's face.
The most gratifying part about the competition turned out to be winning my individual oral arguments by implication. Opposing counsel from the second round didn't make it to the third round and opposing counsel from the third round didn't make board. Does that mean I won? I think it does. I win! Competition! Yes, the meaning of life is proving that you are better than your competitor. That and happiness (note: probably not the actual meaning of life, this is mere speculation, but if someone tells me what the actual meaning of life is I'll post it here). Oh yeah. Now that I don't have a sport to be constantly competitive about this is how I get my competitive kicks. Sad, really. Law school, you disgust me.
Speaking of disgusting, four of my friends foolishly participated in the Golden Monkey challenge last night. One finished, but didn't remember it. Two remembered everything but didn't finish. One did not come close to finishing or remembering. Who really won? Well depending on how you look at it, I think Reza won (he finished but didn't remember). Reza came over this morning feeling and smelling awful. It was after I came back from my oral argument. He chose to lie down on the floor, despite offering him my bed to lay down on. But it was productive for him, he's about one episode away from being hooked on the West Wing thanks to yours truly. He got a big kick out of Sam being unable to discuss the Roosevelt Room (which is actually named after both Teddy and Franklin), and of the President's entrance in the Pilot (go figure). Another convert is coming.
I can't stop listening to Flogging Molly. Fantastic.
Goodbye bread! I'll miss you for the next week or so. You too, rice, you were always a good friend. It's not you, it's Passover. That stupid Pharaoh kept changing his mind. It's his fault. He should have just been decisive, and either let the Hebrews go or not. And if you let them go, then give them some time to let the dough rise. As it happened I'm pretty glad he let them go; the outcome worked out pretty well...kind of (there's apparently some sort of ongoing conflict in the Middle East). I'm no bible scholar though. For a more complete understanding of Passover I'll have to refer people to the Rugrats, Prince of Egypt, or the Ten Commandments. Or the bible, but that thing is cumbersome at times and not written in contemporary English.
Fun fact that I just made up about the Exodus story: the burning bush was an early allegory for STDs and served as an early caution to use birth control.
A lot of my friends made it to the third round but did not ultimately make board. I felt bad for them, they put in a lot of work and I'm sure they did really well. It's ultimately such a subjective judgment. In this regard, announcing your accomplishments on facebook is a pretty tacky thing to do, and one which is certain not to win you any friends. We all see that your name is on the list, you don't have to rub it in everyone's face.
The most gratifying part about the competition turned out to be winning my individual oral arguments by implication. Opposing counsel from the second round didn't make it to the third round and opposing counsel from the third round didn't make board. Does that mean I won? I think it does. I win! Competition! Yes, the meaning of life is proving that you are better than your competitor. That and happiness (note: probably not the actual meaning of life, this is mere speculation, but if someone tells me what the actual meaning of life is I'll post it here). Oh yeah. Now that I don't have a sport to be constantly competitive about this is how I get my competitive kicks. Sad, really. Law school, you disgust me.
Speaking of disgusting, four of my friends foolishly participated in the Golden Monkey challenge last night. One finished, but didn't remember it. Two remembered everything but didn't finish. One did not come close to finishing or remembering. Who really won? Well depending on how you look at it, I think Reza won (he finished but didn't remember). Reza came over this morning feeling and smelling awful. It was after I came back from my oral argument. He chose to lie down on the floor, despite offering him my bed to lay down on. But it was productive for him, he's about one episode away from being hooked on the West Wing thanks to yours truly. He got a big kick out of Sam being unable to discuss the Roosevelt Room (which is actually named after both Teddy and Franklin), and of the President's entrance in the Pilot (go figure). Another convert is coming.
I can't stop listening to Flogging Molly. Fantastic.
Goodbye bread! I'll miss you for the next week or so. You too, rice, you were always a good friend. It's not you, it's Passover. That stupid Pharaoh kept changing his mind. It's his fault. He should have just been decisive, and either let the Hebrews go or not. And if you let them go, then give them some time to let the dough rise. As it happened I'm pretty glad he let them go; the outcome worked out pretty well...kind of (there's apparently some sort of ongoing conflict in the Middle East). I'm no bible scholar though. For a more complete understanding of Passover I'll have to refer people to the Rugrats, Prince of Egypt, or the Ten Commandments. Or the bible, but that thing is cumbersome at times and not written in contemporary English.
Fun fact that I just made up about the Exodus story: the burning bush was an early allegory for STDs and served as an early caution to use birth control.
Friday, March 19, 2010
What A Crazy Friday Night
Live from DC...it's Friday night! And I am sitting at home reading my opposing counsel's brief and looking up cases on LexisNexis. Why? Because I have oral arguments tomorrow morning. Thus, I am not going to Barrister's Ball (law school prom), nor am I going anywhere else tonight except to sleep (if I'm lucky and my body feels like cooperating). I am a huge winner.
Problem: opposing counsel's brief is...well...how do I say this politely...poor. There are punctuation errors, spelling errors (my favorite was leaving the "e" off "rationale"), organization problems, and statements that are just plain wrong. It's all very distracting and makes the brief hard to follow and difficult to rebut. I only have 15 minutes of oral argument - how am I supposed to point out all of her factual errors and make my own case while responding to questions from the judges? It's going to be a balancing act. Hopefully her oral argument will be a little less...incorrect than her brief. I'm really not trying to be mean here; the brief really just has misleading/incorrect information. I personally like opposing counsel. We'll see how it goes over tomorrow morning.
I do not have enough quarters to do laundry. My closet tells me this is going to be a huge problem very soon.
My Contracts professor describing a party breaching a contract: "He pulled out and disappeared." I laughed a little because I am immature. But not as immature as the people who laugh when my Property professor talks about testators and dying intestate. (Testate means leaving a valid will. Fun fact, which I did not know until this week.)
Good news: apparently the interview went well - I got the job! Very exciting.
More good news: my mom was in town for business tonight and I went out to dinner with her. It was nice to see her. It was also nice to eat steak. Of course, I learned from my lesson at the Brazilian restaurant in January and only had one plate of meat. Six was too many. Nakul knows.
Problem: opposing counsel's brief is...well...how do I say this politely...poor. There are punctuation errors, spelling errors (my favorite was leaving the "e" off "rationale"), organization problems, and statements that are just plain wrong. It's all very distracting and makes the brief hard to follow and difficult to rebut. I only have 15 minutes of oral argument - how am I supposed to point out all of her factual errors and make my own case while responding to questions from the judges? It's going to be a balancing act. Hopefully her oral argument will be a little less...incorrect than her brief. I'm really not trying to be mean here; the brief really just has misleading/incorrect information. I personally like opposing counsel. We'll see how it goes over tomorrow morning.
I do not have enough quarters to do laundry. My closet tells me this is going to be a huge problem very soon.
My Contracts professor describing a party breaching a contract: "He pulled out and disappeared." I laughed a little because I am immature. But not as immature as the people who laugh when my Property professor talks about testators and dying intestate. (Testate means leaving a valid will. Fun fact, which I did not know until this week.)
Good news: apparently the interview went well - I got the job! Very exciting.
More good news: my mom was in town for business tonight and I went out to dinner with her. It was nice to see her. It was also nice to eat steak. Of course, I learned from my lesson at the Brazilian restaurant in January and only had one plate of meat. Six was too many. Nakul knows.
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