Oh White Water, Keep on Rolling

Yesterday was white water rafting with the firm. Breakfast was at 7:15, bus left at 8. Despite the early morning, I was excited. There were 12 people from the firm. We were joined by approximately 80 5th grade campers on the rafting expedition. Luckily, our group got separate rafts and didn't really have to deal with energetic small children. After my raft nearly sunk and we waited half an hour to get a new one, the trip down the river got underway. We went from West Virginia (new state, cross it off the list!) down the Chesapeake to to Virginia. There is a point on the river where you can see the banks of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland at the same time. Pretty cool. Plus some Civil War battle sights. Nerd alert! Despite being out in the sun for 6 hours or so, I managed not to get sunburned (except for a small strip on my right ankle). I guess slathering on non-CVS brand sunscreen was a good call. Man, I love white water rafting. Not even the sun could bring it down.

Then the second phase of the day began. It started with beers on the bus. 12 people, 60 beers, and one bottle of whiskey. Do the math. It equals inebriation. An associate made a deck of cards out of post-it notes, and we played Kings and a drinking game to the movie "Red" (every time Bruce Willis kills someone, take a drink; every time a major character dies, take a shot). We were all feeling good by the time we got back to the office. One summer got pulled into a meeting with a partner. One associate had to sit in on a conference call. The rest of us went out to the bar. Here's where I remind myself never to drink Red Bull again. Jager-bombs aren't a good idea. Especially not after an early morning and a long day in the sun. An even worse idea: the Irish Trash Can. This is a drink our raft guide told us about, seemingly daring us to drink later on. So of course the four people who were on my raft and heard about the Irish Trash Can had to throw caution to the wind and order them. The drink is essentially a Long Island Iced Tea with blue curacao and a Red Bull, turning it green and making it a bombshell of disgustingly sweet caffeine and alcohol. Anyone who got a phone call or text message last night, that is why. It's been a while since I did something that plainly ridiculous with a drink, but luckily everything worked out well. Everyone was feeling good and chatting, and it was generally a good team building exercise. Did I mention that law has an unabashed drinking culture?

I didn't feel great this morning. At all. But I still was at work by 8:30, dutifully slogging through research in Portuguese. Google Translate is a miracle function, but not perfect and I still don't speak Portuguese, which made the morning's task quite frustrating. Try reading a foreign language on a headache sometime.

In new, old news: cover letters are awful.

Pretense

Monday our softball game looked like it might be rained out. It was a dreary morning, but it gave way to a sunny, lovely day, which I got to enjoy from the air conditioned artificiality of my office. At game time, the playing field was good to go. We beat the pants off the other team (not literally, Park Police might have had something to say about that), winning 20-6. Returning to the office, I stupidly followed Nick on the "shortest way" back, involving going through the middle of the field. Remember, it was raining, so the middle of the field was actually a mine field of mud. A mud field. About 3/4 of the way through the mud I had enough and stupidly decided to start running. That's how much got basically up to my knees, to say nothing of coating my shoes. I had to have a drink with K-Dawg who was in town, so it was dilemma time. Luckily, the firm has showers in the basement. And towels. And soap. Now that's convenience. Of course I didn't plan well enough for my walk back to my office from the shower, and ended up riding the elevator in my dress shoes and athletic shorts with two bemused janitors.

Tuesday evening was the infamous wine tasting at the firm. 9 wines: 3 white, 3 red, 3 mystery red. Lots of pretension ("Blackberries, currant, and some black cherry, definitely cherry"). The "mystery reds" involved a taste test to determine which was a zinfandel, a merlot, and a cabernet. Like I said, lots of pretension ("It has a...dusty finish"). Only 3 people guessed all three right, that's statistically worse than if everyone in the room had randomly guessed. It shows you how random (read: pretentious, yes that word has to be thrown around when discussing a wine tasting) it all is. After the official tasting portion of the wine tasting, the summers and a group of associates headed out to the bars. I have to say, it is pretty intimidating to watch the bartender hand out a dozen Mind Erasers followed by a few rounds of jello shots. Then on to the next bar to play flip cup. In a rare flash of brilliance, I left around midnight rather than sticking it out until the bitter end, which I am told was around 2 am. I did stay for long enough to see one associate storm out of the bar and call for her husband to follow her after a challenging team cheated at flip cup and heated words were exchanged. Luckily, I was not a part of any bad behavior and I was relatively alright the next morning. I actually showed up to work a bit before 9 and didn't have to close the door for a nap. I am told that many associates were not as lucky. Upon reflection, there were some people, largely women, who drank about as much as me and do not weigh nearly as much. They had particularly rough mornings. But my streak of minding myself at firm events is continuing. Halfway through the summer without a major social faux pas!!

The rest of the week was pretty mundane. My mid-summer performance review went pretty well. I didn't really get any constructive criticism, but the flip side is that nothing is wrong. Good thing I have not yet chosen to wear my dog costume and written a memo saying "Woof woof, bark woof bark. Yip."

Last night at the bar I waited literally 25 minutes for a bartender to notice me and place my drink order. Finally I ordered a cider and a whiskey soda - but he had to go downstairs to find me a cider. Then, when he got back up, he charged me $17 and moved on. It would have taken another half hour before I could argue with him about the price, so rather than protest I went on a profanity-laced tirade to my table. I felt better after that, and after the drink was safely in my stomach. But I can't decide if he was wholly incompetent or a brilliant strategist on behalf of the bar. I'm leaning towards the former, but you never know. For my revenge I didn't leave a tip - for the first time I think ever.

Also last night, I had mind-blowing donuts. I know you think most donuts are just donuts. But Ten Penh's donuts are something....special. They are outta this world delicious, topped with cinnamon sugar. It's like reinventing the donut wheel.

I don't think there are any good bagels in this city.

I get sunburned really easily. Like insanely easily. It's a problem. And I have been applying sunscreen, no matter how much I dislike the smell. Now it could be just because I wear the CVS brand sunscreen rather than shelling out the big bucks for a brand name (hellooooo Neutrogina). But I think it might be something else. Maybe I'm dehydrated, which makes it easier for the sun to...burn me. Sounds pretty flimsy. I know I am pale, this is ridiculous.

Everybody's Free (To Forget to Wear Sunscreen)

Yesterday was pretty fantastic. I spent the majority of the day at Jen and Anthony's rooftop pool. I got yelled at for trying to read for Corporations and write a cover letter. All told, I think I was there hanging out with various people, swimming, and throwing around a football (which ultimately took a 12 story fall into the parking lot and was never heard from again) for about six hours. I guess this is that "relaxing" stuff that people talk about. Being white and responsible, I sprayed my torso and arms with sunscreen. SPF 30, baby. I did not anticipate being in the sun for as long as I was and thus forgot all about my legs and feet. So now I have a nice little sunburn on my knees and the tops of my feet. Wearing socks is slightly painful these days (just like watching the Sox - hey-yo). Now, back to work. Actually, some back to work is fun, like reading Griswold v. Connecticut. Maybe Shaked will be the only one who agrees with me, but I enjoy reading that case.

Notwithstanding Griswold, there are still tolls from school. Currently, I have to think of a note topic (a note is basically a piece of scholarly writing akin to a thesis, though shorter than a full-fledged thesis). I wonder if my journal will accept a tragicomedy in two acts about the American embargo against trade with Cuba. I doubt it, so I am forced to find alternatives. Any ideas for fun topics related to international law?

Four day weekend!