Happy Halloween ...

The best parts about Halloween:

The package from my Mom. (Of course she made that cute bag.)

Tomorrow I can listen to Christmas music!

Honestly, Halloween does not rank high on my list of favorite holidays. I do not like dressing up in skintight, scandalous clothing and I do not drink any liberating beverages. So I am left with only candy, and I eat it all year anyway. So I really like Halloween best when it ends and I can finally start celebrating the best time of year: Thanksgiving/Christmas/My Birthday. (Yes, why wait until becoming president to declare my birthday a holiday? Now that I have a blog, I can declare whatever I want whenever I want ...)

My Psychic Powers ...

I imagine that a lawyer with psychic powers would be quite in demand. So I consider it quite fortuitous that I possess such powers. They manifested themselves again last night, when I just knew I would be called on in class today. (I mostly knew because I also had a major paper due today, so I did not prepare for my other classes as well as I should have. Yes, you would think that knowing I would be called on would make me actually prepare for such an event. But no such luck.) Well, sure enough, the teacher called on me and proceeded to question me for 15 minutes (typical for him). Luckily I know about some other powers besides psychic ones, and after praying intently that I would not completely humiliate myself, I emerged from the experience relatively unscathed. Whew.

If the prayer had not worked, however, I could use a new remedy from my torts class, where today we learned about suing God. Evidently if God does not appear in court, you can collect through one of his agents. (Well, you can try. According to my oh-so-believable Prof. B, one courthouse got struck by lightning and the judge killed as he decided such a case.) In the same class today, we also read a case about a man cleaning a vending machine with gasoline in a room with an open flame. A rat ran out of the vending machine, where it apparently lived, went near the flame, of course started on fire, and then ran back into the vending machine, which then exploded. Yes. This shows why I like law school. As Prof. M told us the first day of school, "You read stories all day, while your friends in other fields do real work." This also shows why I will be staying away from vending machines for a while ...

A Frightening Thought ...

You know you have been working on a paper for too long when you suddenly start reading it aloud to yourself in a British accent. You know you need to keep working on it, however, when even the accent does not make it sound interesting or good ...

The West Wing ...

I used to spend Sunday nights watching "The West Wing" with my family (and for the record, I quite enjoyed it). Tonight, however, I spent Sunday night at the actual West Wing! I saw the Oval Office, the Situation Room (OK, the door of the Situation Room), the press room and the president's dog. I will post photos soon, but I just could not resist an immediate announcement ... yes, I love my life ...

Senatorial Courtesy ...

The best view in Washington: The Capitol Rotunda

Question: How is my Civil Procedure professor (yet another Prof. B) like Bill Clinton? Answer: Both are married to United States Senators.

Question: How is Prof. B's wife (Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.) unlike Hillary Clinton? Answer: I actually like her. (Klobuchar, not Clinton.)

Question: Why do I bring this up?
Answer: Keep reading.

To reward us for taking our Civil Procedure midterm, or maybe just to make us like him again, Prof. B and Sen. Klobuchar (sorry, public figures do not get the protection of my abbreviations) invited our classes (about 50 students) to the Senate and Capitol last night for a tour and pizza party. This tour of the Capitol certainly topped the tours I used to give. For starters, our tour guides (Klobuchar and one of her staffers) knew much more than I ever did about the building and its history. And going onto the actual Senate Floor after hours with an actual sitting senator definitely added to the intrigue. The regular tour definitely does not include the Senate Floor!

I really liked Sen. Klobuchar, too. She seemed so friendly and unpretentious, and having only served in the Senate since January, she understood and appreciated our excitement to be there. And, she told us a good story about her husband. Evidently he participates faithfully in the Senate spouse club, much more than the few other husbands (the Senate only has 15 women). Well, one day Sen. Klobuchar and another female senator saw Prof. B carrying a box wrapped in pink paper, and discovered that he was en route to a baby shower for another senator's wife. Sen. Klobuchar characterized it as a victory for women everywhere, and I agree. (Obviously, she had not purchased ... or wrapped ... this gift for him ...)

Some other interesting bits of trivia I learned:

• The current female senators represent about half of all women who have ever served as U.S. Senators. (I think the tour guide said there have been 32 in all.)
• Each year, the president inspects and grades the gorgeous chandelier on the Senate side near the Rotunda. Only one president gave it an A- (all the rest gave it an A).
• Senators can purchase the chair they use in the Senate after they retire.

The Big Apple ...

Do not be fooled. This post does NOT mean the end of my Internet woes, which thus far include:

• An hour and a half on the phone with the Verizon man
  
• A half hour with the first GW Help Desk person
• An hour with the first Dell chat person
• A half hour with the second GW Help Desk person (who then told me to call Dell)
• Ten minutes with the second Dell chat person (who then told me to call someone else)

Moral of the story? I really, really, really dislike computers in general right now and mine in specific. And maybe this would not happen if I owned an Apple computer. (Mostly I just added that sentence to tie the computers to my next topic ...)

In happier times, before I returned home to electronic turmoil, I had a lovely weekend in New York City with my pals H., K., and E. So, for a change, I will report photographically ... but first I should note that, like a worm, I ate my way through the Big Apple. Unlike a worm, I also walked. A lot. Basically I walked and ate for two days. No lie. And let me also note that yes, I did do my hair before traveling to such a stylish city. But it happened to be raining the entire first day. And remember my broken umbrella? So there went my hair (and let us all please refrain from actually looking at it in these photos) ...

On Day One, after a lengthy, rainy bus ride where I discovered that I really like looking at people in the cars below, I met H. for lunch. Then we walked around and met K., who works in the building with this evidently famous sculpture thing out front.

Then we ate dinner at a place with the best onion rings I have ever tasted.
Then we walked around Times Square.

Then we went to Starbucks and had apple cider with E. Then we walked to the subway and to H. and K.'s adorable apartment with a fantastic view of the city just across the river.

This would be us walking across the Brooklyn Bridge on Day Two (you know this because the sky is blue, not cloudy and gray, and the photo is clear, not misty).

The line at this famous place starts forming 20 minutes before it opens. We opted to walk around the wharf (or pier ... like I know the difference) instead of being first in line ...

Yummy pizza, with the gang. In the front, you see my lovely hosts, H. and K.

The gang again, on the wharf/pier, with the skyline in the background.

On the topic of buildings, let me say that K. can name basically all of them, and this after living in the city for only two months. He also knows how to get anywhere in the city, including the bathroom at Macey's. Seriously. With K. around, I never had to worry about how to get anywhere, except home. Which I returned to all too quickly ...

I have now logged off and on successfully ... once ... and I am quite happy about it. In fact, I consider it a miracle (and I am not being facetious) ...

Speed Bumps ...

I had a fabulous time in New York City this weekend (and I will post some photos very soon) but I returned home to a maddeningly slow Internet connection and a car with a non functioning speedometer ...

Addendum To The Last ...

OK, so after writing my celebratory post, a dear old friend called me with MUCH more exciting news: At nearly the exact time I finished my first law school exam, she delivered her first baby. Now that puts my very minor accomplishment in perspective ...

Bread, Chocolate and The Awakening ...

"The Awakening"

I JUST FINISHED MY FIRST LAW SCHOOL EXAM! (Yes, a sentence worthy of all caps, in my humble opinion.) To celebrate, my roommate C. and I and some friends went to a lovely cafe C. discovered called Bread and Chocolate. Obviously, a delicious (and adorable, it had a yellow awning!) place. I ate crepes (the menu called them German Pancakes, but they really were crepes) filled with Nutella. And believe me, I enjoyed it. But I think I deserved it. Not only did I take my midterm, and live to tell the tale, but yesterday C. and I went for a VERY long run (OK, long to me ...). We ran across the 14th Street Bridge, which crosses the Potomac, and then along the river to the Awakening statue. By the time we made it there, I definitely felt anything but awakened ... both in mind and body. But now, with some chocolate in me, my exam finished (itself an awakening, to be sure) and with no classes for the rest of the week, I feel much better (and only slightly sore from the run) ...

Richmond, Ramadan and Happy Halloween ...

I really should be working on a paper right about now ... but I just got off the phone with one of my very favorite people (that would be you, Nana) and it feels too jarring to go from happy to painful so quickly. So I am writing here to ease the transition. (And because I wanted to post the adorable Halloween card I received in the mail today. It is much cuter inside, but since it is a POP UP card, I could not scan that ...) Anyway, since I have now noted the upcoming pagan candy holiday, I should also give equal space to some opposite topics. First, General Conference. On Sunday, I went to Richmond with some friends to watch it at a real house (a.k.a. a friend's parents' house) and had a fun, food-filled time. Then on Monday night, the Muslim society at school had a Ramadan dinner and invited the other religious groups (Mormon and Jewish, mainly) to come ... also a fun, food-filled (and quite informative and interesting) time ...

Supreme Professors ...

Before school started, I watched what I now know to be the classic law school movie, The Paper Chase. I watched parts of it three times, actually. I found it so tedious and ridiculous the first time that I fell asleep. I managed to get through it the second time, and then Prof. B (actually, I have three Prof. B's, so I guess their anonymity will be protected more than most) "invited" my class to watch it again the first day of school.

So, I consider myself sufficiently versed in The Paper Chase, and I continued to consider it ridiculous. Until recently, when I realized that I am quickly becoming exactly what I ridiculed. For you lucky souls not familiar with The Paper Chase, the main character basically worships his Contracts professor. Now, do not worry, my fascination has not reached worship. But it could.

Today, a group of us had lunch with two professors (a different Prof. B and Prof. M). These kind (yes, I term them kind, but only when they stop acting like Socrates) fellows have lunch with a group of students every week, and I took my turn today. I already really liked both of them, but in particular found myself intrigued by Prof. M. And now I know why.

Not only does Prof. M start class exactly on time every day and notify us before he calls on us, but he basically knows the entire Supreme Court. Yes, THE Supreme Court. Now, in reading my new book about the Supreme Court, I have learned about the Bork controversy, the Kennedy nomination, the Thomas nomination and controversy, and the Roberts nomination. Well, Prof. M clerked for Bork, clerked for Kennedy, and then came back and clerked for Thomas during his first year on the Court. (The year I just finished reading about, where Thomas would write his own opinions and then the other justices would want to join. So his law clerks obviously did some good work!) Seriously! And, then years later, the Court appointed Prof. M to work on another case, this one with then-attorney and now Chief Justice John Roberts. So my professor knows him too! WOW!

And now, enough with the cheese and exclamation marks. Back to complaining about my homework ...

Freedom Is Not Free ...

Yesterday after classes I walked (from school, quite a trek ... OK not really, but it sure felt like it with my backpack on) to the monuments with someone visiting D.C. for the first time. I always love looking at the monuments, but I appreciate them even more when I go with someone who has never seen them before. Even better, yesterday we found the World War I Memorial, which I had never seen before.

Near the Korean War Memorial ...

To me, this phrase sums up all of the monuments and memorials ...

In honor of a new namesake ...

The World War I Memorial ... built in the '30s, so it just says 'World War' Memorial ...

P.S. So I know I promised not to refer to people by name on this blog, but it just feels strange not to actually identify the people I talk about. So, if no one objects, I am going to start referring to people with their first initials, which I think should preserve sanity and identity at the same time ...

President of 9/12 ...

I like this column in the NYT. I do not agree with all of it, but I do agree with the sentiment of Thomas Friedman's conclusion: "We need a president who will unite us around a common purpose, not a common enemy. Al Qaeda is about 9/11. We are about 9/12, we are about the Fourth of July — which is why I hope that anyone who runs on the 9/11 platform gets trounced."