My State of Blind Confusion

Daydreaming

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:14:26 GMT

I'm half-listening to the confirmation hearings (hooray for Perry Mason inspiring Sotomayor's legal philosophy!), and I have this sudden image:

Me, on the Senate Judicial Committee, many years from now, holding a confirmation hearing for Justice Sotomayor's replacement. I look down from the dais at the nominee and reminisce about studying for the bar while watching the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. With that in mind, I say, I have a question for you:

In a civil action tried to a jury, the defendant objects to the introduction by the plaintiff of certain evidence without the judge's first making a preliminary ruling on the admissibility of evidence.

For which evidence is the defendant's objection NOT appropriate?

A. Opinion testimony regarding structural integrity of a building by an engineer called by plaintiff, without preliminary determination by the judge that the engineer is an expert.
B. Hospital records pertaining to the plaintiff, offered by the plaintiff, without a preliminary determination by the judge that they were made as a regular activity of the hospital staff.
c. Contract negotiations between the plaintiff and a third party, without a preliminary determination by the judge that the third party was defendant's agent.
D. A paramedic's testimony that the plaintiff's wife, before she died, said that the defendant's car went through a red light before hitting her, without a preliminary determination by the judge that she made the statement under a sense of impending death.

If the nominee doesn't answer C, they just lost my vote. :)

Yawn, Stretch...

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:22:02 GMT

Harry Potter was great last night. The three of us who went to the movie together enjoyed each other's company, and we timed our arrival perfectly to be able to walk in without waiting in line while still getting great seats.

The crowd was extremely well behaved, fully of 20- and 30-somethings, but without a single flash of a cell phone screen throughout the movie!

The movie itself was wonderful. Our quibbles with it were relatively minor--more for stuff they randomly added or changed for no particular reason than with things they left out. We would have liked to have seen some of the omitted scenes, but at least they didn't really leave out any key information!

The movie was also beautiful--gorgeous scenery, beautiful coloring, and great sets. Add in Ron drunk on love potion and Harry high on Felix Felicis, and wonderful scenes starring Alan Rickman, and we have a winner!

Confirmation Hearings, Pt. 3

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:35:08 GMT

Dear Sen. Kyl,

1. When I say something, I IMPLY a hidden meaning. You, hearing, INFER a meaning. I cannot infer something through my speech.

2. Diversity is a good thing. Not just for appearance of legitimacy. But also because so many Supreme Court cases depend on interpreting terms such as "reasonable" or "significant." Determining what is "reasonable" in a context depends on understanding all the circumstances in that particular instance. This is simply not usually possible (though it occasionally has been done), in evaluating a discrimination case (for example) when everyone on the bench is over 75, white, male, and upper-middle class.

Sincerely,
Me

Addictions

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:55:20 GMT

I promise--this is just a brief study break! I took a practice MBE set over lunch and did really well, so the time that I would have had to have spent working out my missed questions is instead being taken up with this.

I was supremely lazy about going to the grocery store over the past week or so, and as a result, I ran out of Cokes on Sunday. I have not had a Coke in 2 days, and I have had pretty massive headaches as a result (thank goodness for Advil!). I am taking this as a sign that, after the bar exam, I will need to seriously detox from the caffeine. However, this is for POST bar exam.

As a BarBri instructor noted, this is not a time to change any part of a routine. His advice: "Even if you are on illegal drugs, go in to rehab the day after the exam!"

Confirmation Hearings, Pt. 2

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:04:33 GMT

Dear Sen. Sessions,

Please shut up. You are a lawyer. You should know better than to toss around "strict scrutiny" like it doesn't have a specific legal meaning. I realize that you are playing to the camera and your constituents back home and non-lawyers everywhere, but using legal terms correctly can be done. See Orrin Hatch's line of questioning.

Thank you.

Dear Sen. Feinstein,

You go girl!

Love, Me

Confirmation Hearings

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:30:48 GMT

Has any judicial nominee been tempted to, when confronted with a statement that judges should only apply the law, not make the law, simply stand up and scream at the top of their lungs, "Bulls--t!"?

Followed by a list of cases when courts were responsible for interpreting completely unclear statutes because Congress couldn't get its act together to create a law without gaping holes and ambiguities.

"9 o'clock on a Saturday...."

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:27:39 GMT

Saturday night was one of the best nights EVER. I had a ticket for the Face 2 Face concert with Elton John and Billy Joel, and it was absolutely incredible.

Once it got started, that is. Before that, I was dealing with the drama of being sold not a seat, but a step!

You see, my seat didn't actually exist. It was a computer glitch, and the usher was completely cool about it. Seems that it has happened even for baseball games, and there were several other people experiencing the same trouble. So he sat us in the handicapped seating, which was 1) more comfortable, 2) closer to the stage, and 3) further around, giving a better view of the stage. In other words, SO MUCH BETTER!

I even got to see a bit of Elton John temper. His piano was broken at first--the sustain pedal, which holds notes out and doesn't stop them from ringing, got stuck open. If he had played like this, it would have sounded muddy and like complete crap. So he understandably refused to keep playing, but then continued to get angrier as it took longer and longer to fix, eventually stalking off the stage. So they wound up switching up the concert a bit. Normally, the show would go: duets, Elton's solo set, Billy's solo set, more duets. Instead, they did two duets together, Billy did his solo set, and then the piano was fixed, so Elton did his solo set, then they did all their duet pieces together. But when Elton came back on stage, he apologized to the audience, thanked us for our patience and the techs for their work, and got on with the show.

Billy is the better showman (he bantered with the audience, was much more animated with his playing, and allowed his piano to rotate), but Elton is the better player. Elton didn't move around much, and he didn't really interact with the audience much other than getting up and waving to everyone after each piece. But he played extended versions of songs, featuring just him and the piano, with the band jamming behind him. I think that he lost some people in the audience by doing this, but the longer he went, the more excited I got. I've always thought that he should do an album of just him singing and playing the piano, and he totally has the chops to back it up.

All in all, the concert went for 3 1/2 hours, with no stops other than about 10 minutes to try to fix the piano. And still, because their library of hits is so huge, you walked out thinking, "But they didn't do this or that!" I would have been happy for it to have gone on all night, and so would the rest of the crowd. Alas, that wasn't possible. But the final song was "Piano Man," done with just Billy and Elton on pianos, the bands having left the stage already--complete with a chorus sung entirely by the crowd, without piano or even their vocals backing us up. So much fun!

Go here for photographic evidence, including photos of my ticket and step!

Not homeless!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:18:10 GMT

I have been approved (pending a criminal background check) for an apartment starting in August! I'm still in a bit of sticker shock, but the price is actually very reasonable for that size space in DC (i.e., a one-bedroom). Plus, it's still in Southwest, and only a few blocks' walk to the HUD building! It's also just down the hall from another Georgetown Law alumna that I knew in school.

It's still a little hard to believe that 1) I will be living on my own; and 2) that I am paying more for 800 sq. feet than I was to share an entire house :), but I'm excited for it. Plus, since my starting date for work moved back 2 weeks, I have a chance to fully pack, move, and settle in without having to schedule around work.

Is it August YET?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:58:41 GMT

Because I did a rather obscene number of practice essays this afternoon, my brain was dead. So my study break? Book travel to Europe!

I now have airline reservations AND transportation to the airport! I've also started the ball rolling on hotels in Prague. We'll probably book that ahead of time to make life easier, but leave most other arrangements (i.e. travel from airport to ship, ship to train station, train to Prague, Prague station to hotel, and hotel to airport) as "planned spontaneous" purchases--in other words, we figure out ahead of time how we're going to accomplish each of these stages, but leave off purchasing the ticket until we are there.

Again, I ask--is it August YET???!!!!

ELCA Video

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:59:48 GMT

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is currently holding a video contest, and they are offering a $5,000 grant to the congregation that posts the winning video. The videos are narrowed down to finalists by the votes of viewers and the number of views a particular video gets. I created the video that is the entry First Trinity Lutheran Church of Washington, D.C., below. Unfortunately their "screen" space is a little narrower than I had realized, so some of the edges are cut off. Still, I'm pretty happy with the result.

Please watch, then go to the site and vote!

Travel

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:42:58 GMT

Tomorrow is my grandfather's 90th birthday!

So this weekend my parents threw a birthday party for him, and I was flown in (to Atlanta) as a surprise. This was about the last weekend when I'd be able to give up that amount of time until August, so the timing was perfect.

Unfortunately, little else was on Friday. My original plan: take my luggage to the bar review class in the am, then go straight to the airport and catch a 4:45ish flight.

Actual chain of events:
1) Get a voicemail at 9:10 from my mom saying that Delta had called to inform us that my flight was cancelled, but I was confirmed on a 9 p.m. flight.
2) Decide to go on to airport anyway (I already had my luggage at the course site) and beg to be put on standby. Even if I didn't get an earlier flight, I'd be able to get a TON of work done.
3) Ask to be put on standby, be offered an hour earlier flight, accept offer but ask to still be put on standby, be offered a 5:15 flight out of Dulles (plus voucher for transportation) IN FIRST CLASS.
4) Say yes immediately and drop all talk of standby.

On the cab ride over, I talked with the driver, who is an excellent example of the American dream. He and his wife fled Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was a college criminology professor, when the Russians invaded. They went to Germany for a time before heading over to the U.S. to be with family. Here, he was offered a job with the FBI, but he knew he'd not be able to do that work and be a good father/husband to his family, so instead he worked lower-level jobs. Now his sons are grown; one is a criminology professor also doing contract work for the Department of Defense, and the other is a computer systems engineer. And he's got a 6-year-old granddaughter he couldn't wait to show me a picture of! It was an incredible conversation to have on this completely unexpected trip.

Plus, I still got over to Dulles in plenty of time to get several hours of work in and luxuriate in first class with free wine and get even more work done!

Then, the party on Saturday was wonderful, as was the time spent with family after the party just hanging out (and making fun of old photos).

My Sunday trip back to DC was not nearly as eventful (nor as much fun). They didn't even make an announcement offering to pay people money to take a different flight, which I was all set to accept immediately. Oh, well. Isn't that the way it always works?

Let's Hear it for the Boy!

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:54:33 GMT

I spent most of this morning studying for the bar exam, particularly working on figuring out the crazy common law (case-based) rules about various homicide crimes (murder, manslaughter, and the various degrees thereof).

I was hitting a wall, so I came down to watch the first two parts of the HBO miniseries "John Adams," which I have from Netflix right now.

And what comes up in the first part but the trial for the Boston Massacre, in which the prosecutor asks (something along the lines of), "If we can't convict him of murder, what can we convict him of? Is there such a thing as voluntary manslaughter?" This was followed onscreen by much laughter. It was followed off screen by much howling and gnashing of teeth. Even when I try to get away from it, I can't!

But at least tonight I'm watching one of the DVDs that I got from spending rewards points from one of the legal search engines--Footloose! The best part, though, is that the DVD came with a CD of 4 "favorite 80's songs" including "Take on Me" and "Need You Tonight." Now to just get a soundtrack of the movie...

Inauguration

Thu, 28 May 2009 21:48:26 GMT

Anne has told me this is way overdue. I agree--I've actually had it drafted for a while, but there's a lot here! And since I discovered the iPhoto upload, I thought I'd go ahead and get this done. Plus, it's so much more fun than studying elements of criminal charges! :)

All pictures are here.

Pardon the long (and extremely delayed) entry, but I wanted ample space and time to truly process what happened that weekend (and then I just got busy and forgot). It was absolutely awesome--in the true sense of the word--and on some level I still can't believe that it happened. To help with the length, I'm putting quite a bit behind cuts, so as not to take up all of your friends page!

First, a bit of housekeeping. For those of you not familiar with the layout of DC, here's a brief summary.

Imagine a grid with four quadrants, like you were doing a graph in school. The vertical lines are numbered streets, while the horizontal lines are letter streets. At the center (origin) of the grid is the Capitol building. The further you get away from the Capitol, the higher your number/letter gets, in either direction. So the first street east of the Capitol is 1st St., the first street north is A, the second is 2nd and B (respectively), and so on. There are minor variations, but that’s the basic principle. Therefore, when I say I was at 7th Street, you can figure out that I’m about 7 blocks from the Capitol.

State Avenues (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, etc.) go diagonally through the city and cause all kind of problems. But just ignore them for now.

Because there could be four intersections of, say, 3rd and M Streets, all DC addresses have a quadrant (NW, NE, SW, SE) attached. Not really important to the story, but FYI.

Things started off on Sunday, with the concert at the Lincoln Memorial. I had to be at church in the morning for the service and for a short while at the post-service congregational meeting, but I was still able to get over to the site by 12:30 or so. I was with a group of other young adults from church, and we were all very excited to be there.

I loved being at the concert. We were pretty far away (on the other side of the WWII Memorial), because going up closer would require going through the long security line (with no guarantee of making it through security), and we still would have been very far away from a jumbotron. So we stopped where we could watch the big screen and at least pretend that we could see the stage. Of course, the huge bank of cameras kept us from actually seeing anything on the lower portion of the steps, but whatever.

On Monday, I went downtown for several purposes. The Michigan Congressional delegation was hosting an open house, and I wanted to go say "Congratulations" in person to Mark Schauer. I worked for Rep. Schauer when he was in the MI state senate, and I think it's completely great that he's now here in DC. Of course, the Metro was PACKED, and there were long lines everywhere, but I was able to get in and see him--and some others connected with him.

Then I met my aunt, and we wandered around the east front of the Capitol, reaching the west front in time to witness the practice of the quartet that performed at the ceremony. I could see Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman! There were also a lot of people wandering the Mall, scoping it out for the next day, I guess. We had lunch, and then walked down to the American History Museum, collecting some free souvenir buttons along the way. We checked out the bottom floor of the museum for a bit before heading back to our respective "homes."

Finally, it was Inauguration Day!!!! I got up at 5 am and left by 5:45, getting to the Mall shortly after 6. By then, the crowds were already crazy, and in many spots you were moving forward, not really pushed, but still moved along by the crowd. I managed to get in at 9th St., and worked my way down until I was stopped by the barricading of 7th St. If I had been there just a few minutes earlier, I would have been able to cross 7th and therefore gotten even closer, but oh, well.

The crowd was incredible. I was in a spot where, for the most part, I could see a big screen and even see the Capitol. Plus, with all the people, I was the protected penguin in the middle of the huddle, screened from the wind. There were cheers, singing, and boos (for GW Bush and Cheney), and you just had this sense of being in something HUGE. Of course, by the time noon rolled around, my lower back was in serious pain, and it was becoming more of an endurance event than a real celebration.

Until the Obamas came out. That's when the excitement kicked in, and all discomfort was gone. The crowd talked through just about everything (including the musical performance), until the oaths started. Then, no one was talking. AT ALL. Of course there was cheering during the speech, but no one around me moved while he was speaking. There were some incredibly rude people who started to leave just after the oath of office and then stopped when he started speaking--in my way--but the majority of people were frozen (not from the cold) in place until after the address.

I didn't take many pictures during the ceremony, because they wouldn't have really done anything to capture the moment. So I just took it all in, and have the official photos and my memories to cherish.

After the ceremony, I went home, changed out of the gazillion layers of clothes I was wearing, got some food, and declared I was not moving from the couch for anything short of an emergency. So I stayed warm and napped until the parade (which I watched on TV)!

Graduation

Thu, 28 May 2009 21:25:50 GMT

Thanks to a wonderful facebook app that allows you to upload photos very quickly and easily from iphoto, I am able to share the best of the graduation pictures the same day they arrive!

It was a wonderful week, and I think everyone really had a lot of fun, both at the parties and at the ceremonies!

Graduation Photos!

And the Curse Continues

Fri, 22 May 2009 17:26:57 GMT

I realize that there are several key things to update everyone on (such as graduation!). But I thought I'd share a little bit of drama first.

As you may know, repairs at my house are NEVER simple (see 4-part saga on getting the gas and furnace fixed). So why should a little lock replacement be any different?

Last Saturday night, I was letting my parents out of the house after our graduation party at about 10:00. The bolt wouldn't close, and the latch coming out of the door that goes into the jamb was stuck inside the door. To make a long story short, it eventually turned out that the latch was stuck open, the bolt wouldn't turn out of the door entirely, and the buttons on the side of the door to allow for locking it without a key were BOTH stuck pressed down (when normally, one pressed is supposed to pop the other one out).

We called a locksmith, and he arrived at about 11:00. He took the lock mechanism out, looked at the number of missing or weird pieces, and determined that he couldn't fix this 40+-year-old lock. In addition, because of the age of the lock, it's an odd size, so any replacement had to be ordered.

He installed a new deadbolt at the top of the door so that the door would be secure, and said he'd order the new lock assembly on Monday and schedule installation when he got the part. Only problem--only 2 keys for 3 people, and I was busy for the next few days so couldn't get out to Home Depot to get it duplicated.

On Tuesday, I made it out to Home Depot, only to find that they don't carry the right length blank to make our key. I called our locksmith, who recommended someone else, but they closed at 5, so I couldn't go that afternoon. However, I went on Wednesday after bar review class and had no problem (for once!).

The lock arrived on Thursday, so the locksmith came over around 5:15. At 6:45, we had the new lock installed and entirely new external hardware, as well. Seems that the rod that released the latch on the old latchplate didn't properly fit the hole in the new lock (and for some strange reason didn't seem to fit the old lock hardware, either), so the locksmith had to install the whole kit. Of course, the new stuff is of a different shape and size than the old stuff (and our door was recently repainted), so it looks kind of ugly. There's also the hole at the bottom of where the old latch plate was (it held the old hardware on the door). But we have a screw that will cover it and look good, we just need a nut to hold it to the door.

Then comes the fun stuff. Raina, who is living with us for the summer, opened the door this morning, and it wouldn't close. There is a metal moisture flange thingy inside the jamb, and somehow it had gotten bent up so the door wouldn't close. Luckily, however, our landlord was able to housesit so she could go to work and I could go to class (Gabe was in Baltimore). He called the locksmith, who came out AGAIN and wound up cutting the bent part off of the metal flange, so it all works now. Unfortunately, there was some damage to the door, but we'll let that be until it becomes critical.

6 days, 3 visits from the locksmith, and about a million bumps along the way. Sounds like par for the course!

As of 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:31:49 GMT

15 days to graduation
2 days until I go home
1 exam

Hooray!

At this point in time, I'm finding that I'm just annoyed by the exams. Not really frightened or worried, just annoyed. Especially the legal research one I'm taking tomorrow. I mean, I've done assignments all semester, plus an annotated bibliography. Enough already!!

As of 11:01 p.m. on Sunday, April 26

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:03:40 GMT

18 days to graduation
0 papers (just have to turn this last one in)
2 exams
0 graduation announcements to address (just have to get stamps and mail them)

As of 12:40 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, 2009

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 04:43:03 GMT

I have no more classes left (insert joke about having no class, period...).
20 days until graduation (note: my announcements arrived today!)
2 exams
.05 of a paper (I have drafted the entire paper and have completed the vast majority of the FNs. I have to read the whole thing through in hard copy to edit and finish the formatting of some of the FNs, and then I'm DONE!!! And this paper is not due until Monday--who am I, and what have I done with my normal procrastinating, last-minute self?)

Some of my enthusiasm about being done is dampened because I start bar review classes 9 AM THE MORNING AFTER GRADUATION, but not all of it!!!!

Times to go to bed and wake up (sans alarm) to thoroughly enjoy the beautiful weekend!

As of 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 23

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:01:24 GMT

21 days until graduation
1 more day until the end of class
1 day of class
1 class
3 hours of class
2 exams
.2 paper

As of 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:25:22 GMT

22 days until graduation
2 days until the end of classes
2 days of classes
2 classes
5 hours of class
2 exams
1 paper

I turned in one of my semester papers today (5 days early!), and it felt great!

Also, as I was finishing work at the library today, I realized that tomorrow is my last day of work there. I've been there at least 4 days a week every school week for four years. It'll be weird leaving those people behind! But at least they had cake in appreciation of the student workers today...

As of 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:59:44 GMT

23 days until graduation
3 days until end of classes
3 days of classes
4 classes
8 hours of classes

Retroactive Countdown

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:34:29 GMT

I meant to do this every day for the last week, but I forgot last night. Oops.

So, as of Sunday, April 19 at 9:00 p.m.:

25 days until graduation
5 days until the end of classes
4 days of classes
6 classes
9 hours of classes

Great Legal Humor Skit

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:32:40 GMT

Might be funniest for you lawyers/law students out there, but everyone else might still enjoy!

What's that Smell? Pt. 4 (The End!!)

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:28:11 GMT

Because the plumber wasn't able to fix our furnace, we had to get the same company to sent out an HVAC expert to take care of it. He came out yesterday afternoon (Gabe was able to come back in the afternoon). Of course, our stone-age furnace requires an ignition switch thingy that is NOT the standard part they carry on their truck.

So he had to come back today (again, thanks Gabe!) to fix the furnace.

In time for 70+ degree weather.

But now our house works properly again!

What's that Smell? Pt. 3

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:43:51 GMT

The repair man showed up at a little after 2 this afternoon. The test was easy--he hooked up a compressor to the gas line and turned it on--that put enough pressure through the system that you could actually hear the leaks.

He wound up finding 4 or 5 tiny leaks in the lines--at every bend joint, where the caulk they used for the seal initially probably just deteriorated over time. That was a pretty easy fix, just putting in new sealant, and then double-checking that the leaks were fixed.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to fix the furnace issue. Basically, when the furnace is on, gas is released in short bursts of like 30 seconds and turns off if it doesn't ignite. So when, lately, the heat was trying to come on, gas was being released and never used, which led to a build up big enough that we could smell it upstairs.

So the thermostat is now turned off until we can get an HVAC guy instead of a plumber in. Sigh. But at least we now have hot water!!!!!