Life in Moo Town
Raquet Ball
Read Con Law during my lunch break. Got through half and realized my Reg State class had been rescheduled and I was late. or some reason I went. I dunno what I was thinking. Sat there the whole time with my Con Law book open but unable to read due to the noise. Stupid class distracting me from studying :-P I finished up the reading during the break between classes, it wasn't terribly long. Of course I didn't get called on so it wasn't critical. Class is somewhat more enjoyable when I'm prepared though. Turned in the statement of facts for moot court after school, sifted through email and played some spades. Was just sort of kicking it when a friend called wanting to play raquet ball. I hadn't gotten much sleep so I declined. He insisted. I eventually caved and accepted the challenge of course. We played from 7-8:30. He didn't tell me beforehand that he played 2 hours a day, everyday for all of undergrad. Yeah. He kicked my ass. It wasn't pretty. I didn't win a single match. It wasn't even close. At least it was exercise I suppose. Came home, did some networking and showered. By this point I was quite hungry. I ordered Chinese. I think they mailed it from China, it took so long to arrive. I was shaking with hunger by the time it came. Spent 2 hours crashed in front of the tv eating. I haven't touched Crim yet. *sigh* Reading just doesn't want to get done. I'm not looking forward to Justinian on Wednesday either. I'll see what I can get done before passing out.
I'm exhausted this morning. I stayed up until 3AM arguing about the origins of the torah, the role of God in the world, the political side of Moses', Jesus', and Muhammed's lives, and of course, evolution (I then stayed up until 4AM reading Cicero, but that's a separate issue). It never ceases to amaze me how quick people with no formal instruction in biology are to dismiss something they don't fully comprehend. Somehow the discussion degenerated into interpretation of prophets, particularly Isaiah, and how a vague enough prophecy can be taken as a predictor of anything. My position is that the vast majority of prophecies (if not all) have been ex post facto and when you take a body of text as large as the bible and a sample of events as large as recorded history, you can of course draw any parallels you want, there's just too much material to be wrong. I attempted to prove this by showing how random passages from shakespeare could be seen as just as prophetically valid as Isaiah (though this presumes you don't believe Shakespeare was a prophet). I think it very telling that the criterion for recognizing true prophets from false ones is whether their prophecies come true. This is completely useless obviously. Every year the "psychics", "prophets", and other rif raf of America make predictions and are ranked against each other by who was right that year. I find it illuminative that every year a few are right, but they never are consistently right. With enough people prognosticating, random chance dictates a few will be close to the truth by accident. Anyway, since I seem to be having religious discussions a lot lately, and it's eating into my study time (read online spades), I recommend anyone with serious concerns read two books. The first is "Consilience: the Unity of Knowledge" by E.O. Wilson, a former chair of biology at Harvard and in my humble opinion one of the foremost sociobiologists in the country. It lays out how physics explains chemistry, chemistry explains biology, biology explains neuroscience, neuroscience explains behavior, on up through economics, religion and even art/aesthetics. Essentially everything that happens in the universe is due to fundamental particle interactions at the subatomic level; cosmic billiards if you will. I think it lays to rest the question of souls and non-physical entities. The book is completely accessible to non-science people, so long as they are interested and willing to work at it a bit in places. The second book I recommend is "Who Wrote the Bible" by Richard E. Friedman. It eliminated (nearly) any doubt in my mind that the bible was written by humans and essentially modern fundamentalist religions feed us a pack of lies. Not that they may not be useful or beneficial lies, but that is more of an evolutionary argument and I am concerned only with truth, not utility. I'll throw out my two most convincing counter arguments here too just for fun. The first is anthropological. Most miracle type stories involve something witnessed by only a few people. For instance the resurection of Jesus, the binding of Isaac, or the incineration of Aaron's sons. These stories can easily be faked of course. The miracles that supposedly occurred at Sinai were allegedly witnessed by the entire nation. This sort of account is very rare (or so I'm told by anthropologists who study the legends passed down by different peoples) and it's hard to imagine how such a large lie could be perpetuated if in fact it was a lie. That said, there is a PHD at Berkeley who has pretty good evidence the exodus occurred in the time of King Solomon, was from Israel to Jordan and back rather than Egypt to Israel, and was covered up in a legend to prevent political unrest. Not to say that I swallow his story hook, line, and sinker, just that a healthy dose of skepticism about religion is refreshing these days and he made a lot of sense. Ockam's Razor makes me lean towards the simpler explanation in the case. It's a simpler explanation to attribute an event to political struggle than to supernatural occurence. But I won't go into that in depth here. Anyway, the second argument I've actually related in a previous post. It's an ontological argument reasoning that since the universe is not just space but space/time, whatever created it is outside of time as well as physical matter, assuming there was a creator at all. I won't go into this in any depth here because I'm tired but it is accessible somewhere in the archives. I think I'll end with a quote from Cicero just for the hell of it. I'm a big fan of him, he has a great essay on the value of friendship where he discusses Scipio Africanus (who I'm also a fan of, though to a much lesser degree). But first another asside, in perspectives this morning, professor Fergusson gave some words of wisdom that bear repetition. "Stop measuring yourself by the standards other people apply to you. Stop collecting merit badges." His point was that law school isn't about the grades, nor is it (or life) about trying to conform to other people's expectations. It's about pursuing your own interests. I don't take this in a selfish sense, more in a chase your dream or passion sense. Yeah, so that happened to resonate on a Monday morning. As promised, words of Cicero from "De Officiis": Est autem in hoc genere molestum quod in maximis animis splendidissimisque ingeniis plerumque existunt honoris, imperii, potentiae, gloriae cupiditates. Quo magis cavendum est, ne quid in eo genere peccetur. For those who haven't brushed up on their Latin lately, this roughly translates to: it is in the greatest souls and most brilliant geniuses that ambitions for civil and military authority, for power, and for glory are usually found and therefore we must be the more heedful of erring in that direction. Cicero was a smart guy. Something to think about.
Cake Decorating
Rose at noon to start my day. Decided I was going to do lots of work. So I immediately turned on my computer and proceeded to IM and play online spades. I'm such a little addict. I realized my moot court statement of facts won't write itself so I started it. My partner caught me halfway through and insisted that she do the second half. I was actually taking a break to order groeries. I'm not one to argue over such things in any case. I decided to catch the end of the dance marathon. The temperature was above freezing today so I was fine in a t-shirt with no sweater. I'm adjusting. The winter was nowhere near as bad as I expected. Quite livable really. Anyway, the snowfall from last night melted and campus wasn't slippery so I was able to walk to Lerner pretty quickly. The dancers were still going pretty strong, very impressive. Sadly I got there pretty late and I was just starting to get my groove on when time ran out. It was a big countdown like for New Years Eve and confetti was thrown. My friend raised nearly $1,400 so I was very proud of her. The total for the fundraiser was over $79,000. Very nice. Went home again to read over the second draft of the moot court brief. Didn't get much done before I became ravenously hungry. Debated between ordering out and cooking. Really didn't feel like Chinese so I started boiling water to make pasta. Called my dad for help getting my email to work. That took an hour to get sorted out. Columbia IT is a mess. By the time I returned to my pot of water it had all boiled away. Had to start over again. Played a few more good games of spades online. Made penne with a marinara sauce with two kinds of olives and lots of parmesan. I was famished. Ate two big plates full while watching the news. Then did another paragraph for moot court and went to the Kraft Center to decorate a cake. The whole Koach crowd was there so I said hi to friends and met a few new people. And of course ate lots of cake and candy. Carb loading night you might say. Walked home with a neighbor. Spent 45 minutes giving relationship advice to a friend. Then back to moot court again. Finished draft 3 and sent it back to my partner. We had some minor disagreements but we can settle those tomorrow. I'm bigger than her so I think I'll challenge her to a duel. If it comes down to pugilism I'll have the upper hand, no pun intended :-) Sent a get well card to an old friend who broke her leg. Very sad. I'm exhausted but I think I'll try to read Cicero before crashing. I always liked him anyway. One final note. Columbia is starting to feel small. I can't really go out anymoe without running into people I know accidentally. I'm coming to realize that in spite of being in a huge city, the student population is smaller than Davis and it's easy to connect to people. It isn't the small town friendly communal feel of Davis of course, but it is physically a small community and I'm probably going to feel confined before too long. Might be time to start hanging out at some new spots to get a fresh perspective. Maybe NYU. Sacriledge. Of course, running into friends and acquaintances everywhere is a far better situation than being a total stranger, alone in a foreign city as was the case a few months ago. But at the same time I don't really feel like I fit in yet. I haven't found my niche. I need to do more exploring. If I'm not careful though I'll find a good niche just in time to want to move back to CA. That would be unfortunate. We'll see what happens.
Oh Well ;-)
Normally I don't respond to comments on my blog since to a large extent I am writing this for my own benefit and as a pseudo-scientific experiment and I don't really give a damn what the rest of the world thinks. However, due to recent circumstances I couldn't resist. I looked through my site tracker this morning just to see who was bothering to read this and how they were finding it and I noticed that someone had google searched-
site:todayinthelife.blogspot.com "oh well"
Later this morning I received an email asking me to reduce the use of "oh well" in my blogging. Apparently it is counter to my theme of listless dissatisfaction. Of course, I do not intend to create any particular theme or mood in my writing, this blog is a combination diary/stream of consciousness. To the extent that I think "oh well" while writing it appears in the blog. While my use of "oh well" may ruin the mood others are attempting to tap into in this blog, it is still the most accurate representation of my own mood/thought process and is therefore exactly what I am intending to invoke (in myself in the future if not in my loyal readers). That all being said, I too have come to the conclusion that "oh well" is becoming redundant not only in my blogging but in my own thought processes as well. It is likely that the phrase's occurence will drop in the future due to this realization. But first allow me to thumb my nose at critics everywhere who question art: OH WELL! Just kidding. I'm not vindictive like that. Or am I? Maybe I'd be more charitable if commentors weren't always posting anonymously. Oh well.
CUDM
Failed to wake up at a reasonably hour as usual but was drinking water and IMing by noon. I felt somewhat crappy which was ironic since I was the only one not drinking last night. Oh well. Frittered away several hours on IM then did a minimal workout in my room (going to the gym is just not happening in this weather) and showered. Finished off the stir fry and a bagel for meal 1 (what do you call it at 3PM?). I decided to get at least some minimal amount of work done so I went to Diamond Library to hunt down the article I had to read for JGL. THey keep moving the box of articles around and I can never find it. Electronic articles are so much handier. I think it took me half an hour to find the damn box. Then it took another 2 hours to read the article. It was pretty long, 100 pages, and at least half its length was footnotes. The title was "Masculinities at Work" and it was about how women and men who don't conform to gender stereotypes at work are discriminated against and how Title VII could better prevent the phenomenon. I don't normally vote to accept articles but I think I will for this one since I was arguing the very topic discussed in the piece with a couple friends last week. That must make it current right? Marched down to Koronets for a slice of dinner and then continued to spend the evening on IM, butt glued to my swivel chair, completely unmotivated to start the laundry. Peeled myself away at 10 and started two loads. When they finished and I had folded everything it was 1AM. About time to go to the Columbia University Dance Marathon. It's a benefit raising money to help AIDS victims. The dancing starts at noon and goes until 4PM the next day. People volunteer to dance for 28 hours straight and all their friends come cheer them on and dance with them. I had a friend participating so I dropped by for moral support :-) As I walked over it started snowing. Hard. By the time I reached campus the ground was fairly slick. Fresh snow is pretty at least. I wasn't quite dressed for the weather, just a t-shirt and windbreaker, but i made it ok. Danced until 2:30AM. There were beach balls and handballs, basketball, mariokart, twister, breakdancers, etc...Every so often the whole mob would break out in a line dance or a conga line. I felt a bit out of place only knowing a dozen or so people but it was for a good cause so what the hell. Maybe I'll drop in again tomorrow and see how people are holding up. I think it's about bed time now though.
Downstairs Shabbat
Slept through Crim yesterday because I really didn't feel like getting out of bed. Gotta get my sleep schedule back to normal. Did some organizing when I finally got up and ate some stir fry from last night. It was pretty good. Went to Reg State running late and after about 10 minutes I was playing online spades. That class is just terrible. Stayed after class to finish my game and then shmoozed with a couple classmates. Went for salad at Hamilton's Deli with one since we were hungry. Ate our salads and discussed life outside Drapkin lounge. I walked her home since she lives in Lenfest and I wanted to visit another friend there who is still under the weather. Turned out she wasn't there after all so I went home to get ready for shabbat. Got a little cold on the walk back. Temperatures are still in the teens. Dropped off my school stuff and dressed up then walked to the Kraft Center for Koach services. Pretty much the usual. Did the meet and greet thing afterwards with my friends during kiddush and walked with one back to my building since we were both going to the same dinner in the apartment under mine. On the way out of the building I got a flurry of calls all at the same time from law students wanting me to go to bar review/wondering who else was going. It never rains but it pours. Of course I couldn't go since I already had dinner plans, but I don't even see the point. Why pay $15 for an open bar when we get one free 3-4 nights a week already? I'm not that big an alcoholic yet. The dinner was about half law students and half undergrads. Nice people. Good food. Argued about Judaism for a couple hours with two of the orthodox law students (law students like to argue about anything). We obviously had very different views and backgrounds so it was interesting though we didn't get too far ultimately. Those sorts of conversations never really go anywhere. We went through two cases of beer I think, and three or four bottles of wine. I can't take credit of course, after kiddush I just drank water. I figure I drink enough during the week now that weekends should be break time. It's funny, I do my partying during the week and my studying on the weekend, there's something fishy about that. Turns out there is a big dance fundraiser for some AIDS non-profit today through tomorrow so I'm going to make an attempt to stop by and cheer on a friend. The dancing goes for 28 hours straight. Pretty hardcore.
US Attorney Interview
Woke up this morning at 7AM for no apparent reason. Tried to go back to bed but merely tossed and turned for an hour and a half. Just long enough for someone to take over the bathroom before I could get there. Drat. Foiled again. Waited my turn and then occupied it for an hour showering and shaving. I'd say revenge is sweet, but really I'm just slow in the morning. No malice was intended. Got dressed up in a suit because I knew I had an interview right after Crim Law (which I was already running late for). Snagged a glass of water on my way out the door 'cause I was pretty parched...never time for breakfast anymore these days. Sat in the back of Crim Law and realized that as usual I wasn't missing anything. Found out from classmates on IM that the interviews were being held in Little Warren, I don't know how I managed to miss the location when I scheduled the block on my calendar. Printed out a writing sample and list of references at the Library and got to Little Warren 15 minutes early, plenty of time to primp in the bathroom outside of the interview room. Didn't help of course, nothing to do about chapped lips, a bloody nose, or dried out, wind blown hair. Oh well. One does what one can. The interviewer spent 5 minutes after the guy before me writing noted privately and then he welcomed me in. Turns out he went to Georgetown undergrad, Yale Law, and clerked for a federal judge before coming to the DOJ. Very impressive. The interview went fine but I think he was that way with everyone and I'm ot at all optimistic about getting the job; a summer internship with the US Attorney's Office Civil Division. On the other hand, it's a government job and it is unpaid so I won't be too heart broken if I'm rejected. I know the woman who interviewed after me and she reported that no notes were taken on me after I left. I take this to be a bad sign. Went home to read some Con law so as not to be embarrassed for a second day. Went to lunch at the Faculty House for a reception with Heller Ehrman. On the way I ran into a classmate who assured me that I had appeared to have done the reading in Con Law after the second question yesterday. Of course after the first question he wasn't too sure...Yeah, I'm convinced I totally bombed. But oh well. It happens. And of course the irony is that I actually had read the passage that I screwed up on. Bah. The lunch was really good. Very classy buffet. Not the usual boxed garbage. Tasty salmon. I love salmon. The desserts were very impressive too. Layered little cakes and eclaires and whatnot. I over did it a little and ordered San Pelligrino. I don't know why. I'm not a big fan of bubbly water. But it was there. And free. When will I learn? The firm was semi-interesting, SF based and heavy on high tech cases and clients. Of course they don't hire 1Ls so I don't care much for this year. Skipped Reg State to study more Con Law. I was determined to redeem myself. By the time class rolled around, I knew the cases backwards and forwards and exactly what the prof was going to ask. As it turns out, I was totally on and predicted correctly. However the prof wouldn't call on me. I raised my hand three times. No one else was raising their hand. He looked right at me and then cold called random people. I see how it is. Well I tried. I'm sure he'll catch me next time I'm unprepared or something and continue ignoring me the rest of the time. After class I gave advice to some classmates and then went to the Public Service office to sign up for a meeting with some guy that has lots of government connections. I should apply to the CA Attorney General's office too.
Went to the PAul Weiss reception at Cafe Gray. The restaraunt was truly lavish. The bar was very very open. And they had great food. Little beef spare rib pies. Bite sized salads. Truffle pastries. Mini lamb pizzas. Dainty chicken wings. Fig and nut bread. All manner of fine cheeses. Candied fruit. Apple raisin strudel. Chocolate mousse cups. I had a LOT to drink too. First white wine, something from Austria, I wasn't impressed with it, too much bite. Then scotch, Johnny Walker Black Label. Then a mojito. Then tastes of other people's drinks. A side car and a few I've forgotten. Orderd port; a glass of ruby and glass of tawny. I liked one better than the other but I got them mixed up to the point I don't remember which one I preferred. Both pretty good. Then dessert wine, they didn't have ice wine but I got the next closest thing. Then some kind of champaign mixed with something red and fruity. Then real champaign, straight. Then an apple martini. I know I'm forgetting a few in there. It was a pretty good time at the firm. Paul Weiss knows how to throw a party. The restaraunt had a great view of Columbus Circle too. It's in the times warner mall. Went home on the subway and walked a guest home. Completely forgot the poker game I was supposed to go to at 9. Made a stir fry at her place, not because we were hungry but because she needed to cook it for tomorrow and I was in a cooking/procrastinating/not going home mood. We talked a lot but mostly about her life. Probly for the best. I don't think I should be alowed to discuss myself with undergrads. I'm too much of a downer. It probably stunts their growth. I finally went home and took some stir fry with me. It was 7 degrees outside. I didn't feel too cold. Plenty of alcohol keeping me warm still. I felt even more depressed on my walk back than I did before going out. I guess that's how alcohol works. It's a temporary fix that does more damage in the long run. Still wasn't drunk really. Too much time spread. And too much lean mass. I'll still drink some water before bed. No use dehydrating. My lips are chapped from the cold as it is.
Ruby Foos etc...
Made some Indian food from a box because no one wanted to go out for pizza or order chinese in time. Watched the news. Finally decided to put a coat on to go out. I must be adjusting to NY weather, I've been walking around in just slacks and a sweater the last couple days. It's been just above freezing. No scarf, no gloves. When it drops back into the 20's I put my warm weather gear on. The bar this evening was Ruby Foos. The quality of these places seems to be getting better. This cocktail party was put on by White & Case. The associates there were surprisingly cool. Of course the actual work is the same as everywhere else. I actually stopped avoiding attorneys abot half way through the night. Unbelievable. The decor was a lot of red candle light in a fairly japanese looking place. It was clearly a sushi-specializing establishment. The bar wasn't exceptional. Had a screw driver, scotch, champaign and a "ruby foo" which is something red in a martini glass involving vodka and plum juice among other things. Also ate a bunch of sushi, sashimi, coconut chicken, and random vegetable things wrapped in green rice paper. Not atypical for these events, but somewhat higher quality than the average. I guess I'll do some reading tonight before bed because I'm feeling really guilty about my performance in Con Law. Not that more reading would have helped that, but any motivation I can get at this point I'll take.
I got called on first thing in the morning in Perspectives. I read Nichomachean Ethics a few years back for philosophy but I'm not too familiar with the justice sections so I BSed. Second time I've been called on there in 3 weeks. Not cool. Did half my reading for Con LAw during the break after class. Then went to the Skadden lunch at Casa Italia. Got a starbucks gift card. Also the food was pretty good. Nice salad with blue cheese. The chicken was passable. It definitely beats the regular boxed lunch. Dessert was an apple tart thing a la mod, not bad. I'm totally sick of NY and the lifestyle though. I'd rather just cook for myself in a decent kitchen and excercise outside rather than going to bars every day. I wonder if I'll ever get that life back. Reg State was incredibly boring so I played with online refrigerator magnets the whole class. Several classmates joined me. Didn't have time to finish reading before Con Law. Got called on, just my luck. It was bad. I'm sure no one else cared though. I'll get over it. Gave a toy penguin to a friend because she's into penguins. I need to find some food. Then it'll be time for another bar. *sigh*
Melting Snow
This morning when I walked outside I was surprised to find most of the snow on my block was gone. The sound of dripping and trickling water was audible as I walked to class. Today and yesterday were both in the mid 30s so it isn't too surprising that the snow is melting, it's just odd how fast it disappears. It only stayed pretty and white for a day or two before turning to brown slush and sludge so I'm not very sad to see it go. It's sort of like a law student...pure for a very brief period, swiftly tainted, and then not really missed. Wow. I so didn't need to go there. Ok, time for Perspectives...
Citrus Restaraunt and Back to School
I decided to return to class today and I found I hadn't missed much. Criminal law was still chugging away where I left it so far as I could tell. Reg state wasn't very exciting either. Spent the hour looking at supply/demand curves. In between I had lunch of course. No firm today, instead a meeting on welcoming perspective students. Still the same boring boxed lunch though. I tried the chicken caesar wrap. Not great. In the afternoon I had constitutional law. It moved along but I did the reading before class so I followed things fine. Cleaned my room after class. Went to a panel on international law at 5:30. Had to leave before the wine and cheese party to meet a friend to go to Strook's reception at the Citrus Restaraunt on 75th and Amsterdam. She's an undergrad but I snuck her in as a 1L. It was a pretty good time. Sushi, kosher food, random hors d'vors. The highlight though was that they had good bar tenders. One actually made me a brandy alexander. Everywhere else has refused. It was pretty tasty too. Had to leave early because my friend had a physics study group. Guess I'll do some reading and crash.
Interview With Equality Now and NYSE Tour
Busy day. So busy I skipped all my classes. After missing a week, what's one more day? I got up early but was still running late to meet the Securities Law Association at 9AM int JG lobby. Got there at 9:10 and they were gone. Sprinted across campus and caught them at the subway just in the nick of time. We went down to wall street and spent an hour touring the New York Stock Exchange. It actually wasn't that exciting. It looks just like on tv. No difference. Just watch the financial news if you care, don't bother going to New York, not worth it. The only weird thing was that they wear funny jackets on the trading floor with mesh backs. Took the subway back up. Went to lunch at Faculty House with some firm, I'm totally losing track. I guess it was Freshfields today, some international firm specializing in something or other. Hedgefunds maybe? I don't remember, or care. Lunch wasn't very good, they have the same boxes at all these events and it gets tiresome. Went home after lunch and took a nap. I was exhausted. I didn't get any sleep because I did my laundry before bed and my bedding didn't get dry because it is so cold in the basement. So yeah. I slept in wet and nearly frozen bedding which was highly unpleasant. I hope it's dry by now or tonight will be bad too. Anyway, I woke up, got dressed in a suit and went across campus to take a subway to my interview. I slipped a lot because my dress shoes have no traction and there is snow and ice everywhere. I ended up taking a cab 'cause I was afraid I's be late. Cost me $10, very sad. The interview probably wasn't worth it. Oh well. The interviewer only asked me one question. Why was I interested in women's rights? The rest of the time she just talked about the organization. I guess they had already made up their minds about me. I think I'll get an offer. I doubt I'll accept it though. Came home. Ate a pot pie. Fell asleep watching the news. Woke up to go to Le Monde for cocktails with another nameless firm. Lotta Jews there though and they had kosher snacks. I had a couple vodka tonics and a scotch. I'm very unimpressed with the skills of the local bar tenders. No one even knows how to make a brandy alexander. From there I went to a Tu B'Shvat Seder at Hillel. It was ok, nothing extraordinary. Woulda been nicer with a different crowd maybe. After that I came home. Got my email semi working and started cleaning it out. I think I'll read my moot court problem now and call it a night.
More Rotten TV
Watched a lot of crappy tv over the last couple days. Alien. Predator 2. Godfather 3. Dodge Ball. I'm sure I'm missing a couple. Just feeling crappy with no energy. My phone battery is basically dead and my computer functions are dropping 1 by 1. My email doesn't work now, nor do my CD burner or external backup drive. I dunno why everything is falling apart all at once. *sigh* I depressed myself further by looking back through my blog. Apparently the only happy day I've had in about two years was June 7, 2004. Lovely life I've chosen for myself. I'm doing more laundry today and reading an article on breast implant regulation for JGL. I'm probably not going to be able to make the meeting Tuesday night so I need to mail in my comments beforehand. My mind is so hazy. Hard to concentrate on anything for long. All out of Nyquil too. And down to the last couple soup cans. With about a foot of snow on the ground outside I don't think it's worth the effort to restock. What a mess.
Confined
Skipped my classes yesterday, though I had a meeting at 2 for Moot Court that I couldn't get out of (I'd already postponed it once) so I went to campus at noon for the Proskauer Rose lunch beforehand. Found I wasn't really hungry but managed to eat the brownie out of my boxed lunch and half a gingerale. Hung out in the computer lab for an hour checking email until the meeting (my internet was down, I'm having computer problems again, what's nu...). Met my Moot Court editor, and the opposition. The opposing team is made up of two aquaintances of mine from LALSA. So I guess it's the Jews vs the Latinos. j/k. I had a firm reception, Quizzo, and bar review all scheduled in the evening but I had to cancel them all at the last minute because I just wasn't up to going out anymore. Took more medicine and went to bed. Today I skipped class. Had to go to school to sign up for a CAP date for the semester. Well, I didn't have to. But I'd feel bad passing on the opportunity to assist some victims of domestic violence. So yeah. Came straight home after. Couldn't read, my head was too groggy. Watched some tv, moped about, nothing productive. Very dissappointing not to be able to go to the first Hillel shabbat of the semester but such is life. These things happen. I'll try to rest up this weekend so I'm operational by Monday. It's really too late to cancel my interview or postpone so whatever happens I guess I'll have to go and do my best.
OY!
I'm quite ill :-( I couldn't get to class this morning. I went to the doctor instead. I must say I was quite impressed. The doc was from LA and reminded me a lot of Lucy Liu. She had good bedside manner and gave me the appropriate tests/advice/ and free cough drops, aspirin, etc...Unfortunately I have a virus that isn't really treatable so I must stick it out. Tried to fix my computer for most of the morning while drinking tea and soup and reading the constitution. I really like constitutions and by-laws for some reason. Missed lunch with a really cool quality of life firm, I just couldn't go out in the cold. Emailed all my professors so they won't miss me. A friend brought my nyquil, which was very nice. Feeling worse and worse as the day goes on. Ugh. I went to tea with professor Goldberg, 'cause I'm really interested in her gay rights work with Lambda Legal Defense. It was a great talk. She's something of a hero to me. Had some coffee and cookies. The caffeine didn't help me. Gave me a worse headache. Since I was already dressed and out I went to the Jones Day reception in Midtown. The reception was supposed to be food and beer from around the world but it was really very similar to all the other events. I didn't like the office very much. Decent pastrami. Bad sushi. I need to learn to stop eating sushi. I'm really not a fan. I also had a german beer. St. Pauli Girl to be specific. 5 sips were a sufficient reminder to cause me to switch to San Pelligrino. I talked to some of the firm people, they were good at snagging 1Ls who were trying to hide and chat amongst themselves. Not very exciting. It was nice that they sent Lincoln Towncars to pick us up at school and drive us home but it was a very long drive because of traffic. A friend was nice enough to escort me home because I was fairly out of it. The sushi and beer didn't improve my condition in the slightest. Read some radical feminist article a friend sent me. Nice of her to send it. It was required for class. Complete sociological BS sadly. Feminism isn't headed down the right road in my opinion. Not that anyone asks for my opinion as a white male oppressor :-P I also read a few articles from the news, particularly science and academic pieces. There was a good one on the deep sea geology off of the coast of LA. I know, I'm a total nerd. Well I gotta call the parents, try to fix my computer and get some rest. Hopefully I'll be improved by morning.
Too Busy to be Sick
I woke up this morning with a slight cough. By afternoon I was woozy and possibly feverish. I don't have time for this! I'm booked all week. Being sick just isn't an option! Grr. Was on time to crim law for a change. Not terribly exciting though. Entered a westlaw raffle but had to leave the law school right after due to a fire drill. They must be insane. It's 10F outside. -3F if you include windchill. And they picked today to throw us all out of the building. Fools. I took the opportunity to go to a building down the street and drop off a resume to a firm in Chile. I doubt they'll be interested but what the hell. Doesn't cost me much to apply. Went home and made tea. Got a phone call from Equality Now. They want to interview me! I set one up for Monday. Problem is I will probably be sick still then. And if they make me an offer I won't be able to see my other options before being forced to make a decision. ot sure how I feel about that. Also the job doesn't pay. On the up side, I do have a fellowship this summer and the work sounds good. Fighting against female circumcision and things like that. We'll see what happens. Came back to school for lunch with Linklaters (a London based law firm) in the President's Dining Room. Sounded exciting but it wasn't. They talked for an hour then gave us boxed lunches and we had to run to class so as not to be late. I ate in class. Still, I guess all my time is worth is a turkey sandwich anyway. I sent them a resume just for good measure. It would be sweet if I could get a firm job, even if it is in NY. Read that as big $$$. It would be nice if I cared about something other than that, and I do, but it seems my other concerns are heading towards the back burner. When your debt is rising steadily that happens. I guess it's just part of the process of becoming a scum sucking lawyer. If you can fight for women's rights for free or do meaningless corporate drudgery for ridiculous pay it's interesting how easy it is to want a corporate job. Anyway, Reg State and Con Law were the usual. Came home after school and did a little work. Went to the bookstore and froze across campus to get my con law book finally. Time to go to another firm reception soon. More on the evenings events later. I doubt alcohol will mix well with my cough. To be continued....
Continued...
Dechert's event at the Amsterdam Restaraunt was ok. Had some brandy to warm up, it's RIDICULOUSLY cold outside. At a lot of meat on sticks as cocktail food and a plate of veggies/humus/fruit. Not a terrible dinner I suppose. Got a deck of cards as a souvenir. Yay me. Was 10 min late to JGL 'cause I saw cookies and brownies coming out at the reception. It was ok 'cause two journal buddies were there with me and we all came in late together. The article that I read got voted for publication, though I abstained, I wasn't that impressed with it. The topic was whether it should be legal for a teenage girl in Australia to get a sex change if she wanted one. Anywayz, went straight from there to the senate meeting. My resolution was being voted on first. Text below:
Embracing Dietary Diversity Resolution
Whereas New York City has vast cultural diversity and the culinary diversity to accompany it, and
Whereas student senate sponsored events should be accessible and welcoming to Columbia Law Students of all cultures, religions, and backgrounds, and
Whereas many of these backgrounds entail dietary restrictions, and
Whereas these students’ funds are being expended on events they often cannot participate in due to dietary restrictions,
Be it resolved by the Columbia University School of Law Student Senate that student groups holding senate funded events where food will be served should provide vegetarian, vegan, kosher, or halal food, if requested by students attending an event, in order to make all guests feel welcome.
So yeah, there was some heated debate and I had no voice but I did what I could. It was a very close vote. 17-17, the last vote went to an orthodox Jewish friend of mine and he...voted against it. Yeah. A Jew killed the bill on dietary diversity. I dunno what his problem is. Too much Yeshiva rots the brain is all I can guess. So the resolution failed. Guess I have a relatively bad track record with passing resolutions. Oh well. Got the Black students beind me for once. It was nice to all agree on something. The rest of the meeting went fairly smoothly. The 1Ls decided to make clothes and throw a party with our $2000. That should be fine I think. I'd really like a CLS sweatshirt. I should have gone home and crashed from there. But I didn't. A friend downstairs was having a poker game that several senators were going to. I walked them back to my building. I came in for a minute to say hi. Yeah. I was playing before I knew it. Not a bad game though. Lasted 2.5 hours and I broke even. Actually up $.40 but we didn't have change and I didn't care. Now I feel terrible. My whole body aches. My cough is worse. I think I have a fever and I'm shaking. Lovely. Busy day tomorrow too. *Sigh* I don't think it'll kill me. Interviews coming next week. Gotta pull myself together. I'm out.
Cleaning and Losing Poker Night...Again
I got up late, around noon, feeling somewhat crappy. Drank a lot of water and felt better. Eating half a pizza before bed and not drinking anything wasn't helpful. I read a bunch more econ and some crim in the afternoon and vacuumed/mopped my room. I was going to go to the bookstore to get my con law book but it was closed. Started my laundry too. A friend wanted to play poker so I invited a bunch of people over to my place and we had a game. I lost as usual. Five bucks isn't the end of the world though and it's far cheaper entertainment than going out. I'm a little bitter about a bad beat. I had AK and AK came up in the flop. My two pair got beaten by a freak straight where the guy happened to have both cards in his hand. Sucked. Oh well. Finished up my laundry. Never went outside today. When I first checked in the afternoon it was 21 out, now it's 16. Going to class tomorrow morning will be brutal. I'm looking forward to lunch with some lawfirm though. Free food is always nice.
Semi-Productive Yet Boring Day
I read more of Hidden Order this morning along with Antigone and Thomas Schelling's "Economic Reasoning and the Ethics of Policy". I also did a lot of IMing and watched a bit of TV. I went to the library for a few hours and picked up a hornbook on constitutional law, which I read a few chapters of and may even look at again someday. While at the law school I took the opportunity to drop off my evaluation of the JGL article I had to read for Tuesday. When I returned home (a bit chilly due to the 28 degree weather) I was struck by a craving for garlic. Unfortunately nobody wanted to go eat with me so I trekked down to Koronet's alone. Fortunately they have garlic powder, so I got a jumbo slice of cheese pizza and loaded it with garlic. I think my breath could stun a yak at 4o paces but at least my craving is satisfied. On the way home I stopped in at Duane & Reade to get more soap. Not terribly exciting. I sent out a few letters to public interest employers when I got home again to alleviate guilt at not doing more mailings lately. One New York office doing women's rights and a DC office protecting the oceans. Tomorrow maybe I'll drop off a resume for a securities law firm in Chile.
Selfish thought of the day:
Anything that isn't nailed down is mine. Anything I can pry loose isn't nailed down. ;-)
Additional:
Got bored around 10 so I went to 1020 (a bar) with some latin friends. Took turns buying rounds. Not terribly exciting. Came home at 1:30 and got the munchies. Hatched a plot to order pizza with one of my drinking pals. Sadly we couldn't immediately find an open pizza place. Took half an hour. We finally found Cheesy Pizza, open 24 hours. Ate half a pizza at 3AM while watching stand up comedy. I think it's bed time now.
Econ and a Double Date
Woke up at noon yesterday and read an econ book. I don't think it's been assigned yet but I was curious and it looked less daunting than the case books. Most of it was just a refresher from high school anyway and the rest was intuitive. After a few hours of that I went to the gym. I haven't completely degraded since I could still do the same number of pullups but doing curls with free weights was dissappointing to say the least. My max has significantly dropped. Oh well, I can build back up. For dinner I made a stir fry with some tofu, veggies, and brown rice (hooray for healthy food) and then I went to see In Good Company with a couple senior friends from Barnard. Good way to use up some movie passes I won in westlaw and lexisnexis drawings. The movie was ok, but it struck a little close to home railing against the evils of corporate America. Afterwards we met up with a 1L friend of mine at Cafe Lalo for dessert. The place was apparently in the movie You've Got Mail. It was very fancy and the desserts were certainly good but I realized I really prefer to cook my own when possible. There is nothing quite like homemade goodies. Sadly I got a headache during the movie and it began to get worse. We all went back to Barnard housing to hang out a while but by 1 I was fading fast. I walked with the other 1L back to 115th and crashed at 2.
Mock Interview and Shabbat
I was late again to crim law this morning and again so were many other people. Not all of whom were at the bar last night. I dunno what their excuse is. Anyway, the class was still pointless and going nowhere so I don't feel too bad about it. I whipped off a couple more cover letters and resumes after class, one to another Japanese firm (this time I remembered to put my involvement with the Japanese Law Society on my resume, though it will still probably get trashed) and one to the Asylum Program with Human Rights First. The latter is run by the NY Women's Bar Association so being male my chances are likely nil. The whole job search is going rather poorly though it hasn't really started to panic me yet. I had a paper due in reg state which I also dashed off in a hurry and then I went to a lunch meeting on interviewing at public interest law jobs. Unfortunately they didn't serve food. I was expecting pizza. Bummer. I read up for my mock interview in the afternoon and went over at a quarter to 4. Of course they were running behind schedule so i had to stand around for some time but I chatted with some other students so it wasn't too terrible. I apparently did fine in the actual interview, which didn't really surprise me. I only hope I'll do well when it's time for the real thing. Since I was already dressed up, I went pretty much straight to services at Ramath Orah from the law school. I really like the atmosphere there while the undergrads are away. I feel very emotional there for some reason. Anyway, I said hi to a few people after services and met up with a friend for dinner (just as an asside, it's very nice to know half a dozen people walking into any of the local minions now, so different from when I moved to NY and knew no one the first shabbat). Anyway, we walked back to my place and ordered dinner from 107 West. I had fried chicken and mashed potatoes. It was ok but nothing to write home about. We scrounged up some tea candles from my fondu set to light as shabbat candles, made kiddush over some cran-grape juice i had in the cupboard, and made motzi over a small challah someone had given my friend. It was very last minute style but I didn't mind. We talked for a few hours, switched my bed for the queen in the spare room (don't ask, it was a total random whim), and then I walked her home because she was getting very tired (still under the weather). I think I'll rearrange my furniture and call it a night. Plenty of work to do this weekend.
Still Getting Warmed Up
Was late to Criminal Law this morning, though many students were later. I woke up at 3AM last night and couldn't fall back asleep. Bummer. Dunno how exactly I managed to be late to my 9:45 class though. I pretty much worked on email all night. I got organized a bit between classes and went for lunch with a friend at Camilles. I had the chicken soup. The conversation we were having called for such fare. Anyway, it was good to catch up and the restaraunt was nice so I may frequent it in the future (it's less than a block away, very convenient). I had Constitutional Law in the afternoon, Reg State was cancelled, and I didn't get called on so not having books yet hasn't been a problem. I spent an hour or two chatting with friends after class and then went home to grab a quick bite before the firm reception. Tonight it was Pillsbury Winthrop at MOD, a very retro bar on 84th and Columbus. Took a cab there, split 3 ways it's the same price as the subway anyway. Lots of flashing lights, beads, and girly drinks. I calculated that I had run up a $63 bar tab. Not including tips. Thank goodness the firms are paying. I had two apple martinis, a strawberry daquiri, a pina colada, a watermelon martini, and amazingly I wasn't feeling a thing when I walked out at 8:30. My liver is clearly getting used to abuse. Or perhaps the drinks were watered down. They all tasted like candy anyway, the martinis were like jolly ranchers. It's a good thing I'm comfortable enough with my sexuality to order candy drinks because the macho guys just drinking beer missed out. The house specialties were all girly drinks. Now that I'm home again, it's time to try to get some more resumes in the mail since my last batch were less than successful. I also have a written assignment due in Reg State tomorrow so I should work on that. Fortunatey we have a 3 day weekend so I should get to cath up on work then.
Start of Firm Receptions
Went to classes yesterday and did the whole law student thing. I guess that's why I'm here. Had my groceries delivered in the afternoon. Yay for food. Found a partner for moot court and after lots of back and forth came to an agreement on what our top 3 choices should be for brief topics. Hooray for the fruits of negotiation. We got some pizza at Koronets and then I went to Amsterdam Billiards on 76th st for a reception with Kirkpatrick & Lockhart. It wasn't that great. Had a glass of rose wine, nibbled a couple appetizers, played a game of pool and left for a JGL meeting at 8 with a couple other tardy journal members. The meeting was also a waste of time, just received the semester calendar and signed up for a new article. Played online poker until about midnight, read a little and went to sleep. This morning the maid came and cleaned for 3 hours. I still don't like having a maid. I much prefer to do my own cleaning. Oh well. When in Rome and all that...My roomates can't seem to handle cleaning. I'll just chip in my 20 bucks and deal. It's only 1 more semester anyway. Now if only I could find a job and move into Lenfest...
I took a long stroll up in Harlem this afternoon after classes. I had to go to the bank and the nearest one is on 125th and several blocks East. It's weird walking down a street and not seeing another white person for blocks. Everyone is black or latino. I like the change of atmosphere though. On my way back I went through Morningside park which proably isn't the smartest idea. It's a high crime zone after dark and it was twilight at the time. Oh well. Nothing happened. I did a little work and then ate dinner at my place. A toasted bagel with peanut butter and some reheated leftover pasta from a couple days ago. Then I went to a reception with Chadbourne & Parke. It was at Radio Perfecto. I expected just drinks and appetizers but they actually had a full dinner. I felt dumb for eating beforehand but I ate again anyway. They had salmon and I'm always hungry anyway. I also had a mudslide, jack and coke, and a whiskey sour. The whiskey sour was the best of the three I think. I'm sure I'll have many opportunities to try new drinks in the coming weeks. Now I guess it's time to send out some more resumes and get my job situation together a bit more.
Day 1 Semester 2
I got in at 6AM without a wink of sleep. Made the hour and a half trek to morningside heights via subway hauling my luggage and unpacked a bit before class at 9:45. The professor for Perspectives seems fince, but I dozed off and woke up with him standing almost on top of me. I'm not sure if he noticed or not. Apparently he was calling on the guy next to me. A near miss. After class I got organized a bit more, had breakfast and took a nap. Then went to Constitutional Law at 2:45 with a visiting professor from Michigan. He seems fine too though his voice is vaguely reminiscent of the Cicilian in The Princess Bride. Got my ID re-validated after class and picked up my financial aid check and a fee waiver for being late on my tuition payment. Ordered groceries too so I'll have something to eat tomorrow. I don't think I'll get any work done today. I'm just gonna make some pasta for dinner and crash. Ironically the weather is actualy nicer here than it was in California, it was high 30s today with scattered clouds but no rain. If it stays like this it'll be a mild winter.
Leaving the West
In a few hours I'm getting on a plane for New York again. It's been a very tough break on me in California and in many ways it will be good to get back to work and focus my mind again. On the other hand, California is my real home and it's hard to leave even when I am in need of some distance. I do want to say THANK YOU to all the wonderful friends who have been so supportive over the last few weeks and made the burdens of life easier to bear. Thank you also to my Davis peeps for the hospitality and to Columbia/Barnard friends for keeping in touch through the ether. While nothing seemed to go according to plan this last month, somehow I have emerged ready to tackle semester #2 and at least it seems I'll be returning to a mild winter. Who knows? Miracles might even occur and I might get to the gym if it isn't freezing out. Happy New Year to all.
