United, Not Untied ...

I am watching President Bush's final State of the Union address, and feeling both patriotic and nostalgic ... not a good combination for my blog readers, I fear. I am remembering watching the election results coming in nearly eight years ago, and going to bed without knowing the results. I certainly did not imagine then that I would be living here now, again, eight years later, soon to be studying Bush v. Gore in Constitutional Law, and crossing my fingers about another election in Florida. I am hoping that some of these plans being announced will really take shape, and that Democrats and Republicans really will somehow learn how to govern and campaign at the same time. And I am thinking that too often I type Untied instead of United, and the twisted letters really make a difference ...

P.S. I think he says "nuke-you-lar" on purpose. And I think that in eight more years, I will not be quite so lonely in my still-favorable opinion about W. ...

A Sentence I Like ...

My new favorite sentence about Huckabee, from the NYT: "His insertion of religion into the race, herding Mr. Romney into a defense of his beliefs, disqualified him for the Oval Office." For the whole article, click here. I disagree with the parts about Romney (surprise, surprise) but I liked the parts about Giuliani and McCain ...

An Announcement, A Confession, An Op-Ed ...

The Announcement:
I can now parallel park. Finally. Maybe it came with the 10-year driving milestone, or finally getting a new driver's license without my 16-year-old picture. But I have successfully parallel parked on my first try three times in as many weeks. And I am quite proud of it.

The Confession:
I am less proud that I watched the Miss America Pageant tonight. I admit I have always had a strange fascination with that ridiculous affair. So tonight, I went to my friend M's apartment (not baking M., for the record) with the express purpose of watching the pageant. But really. Watching 16 women strut around the stage in high heels and bikinis (OK, 15 women in bikinis ... Miss Utah wore a one-piece) embarrassed me. The host gave the typical disclaimer that the swimsuit portion of the contest shows off physical fitness. Um, yeah. Right. If they really wanted to do that, I think a tank top, shorts and running shoes would suffice. Might as well be honest and say we want our Miss America to look like Barbie, since we obviously do. (I exclude Miss Utah from these stereotypes. Any girl willing to serve in the military, and then enter pageant world, should definitely win some sort of award. Maybe a Purple Crown?)

The Op-Ed:
Click here to read it in the NYT. Interesting opinion from Caroline Kennedy about Obama. Not sure I agree with every word, but I certainly hope he gets the nomination ...

Inside My Head ...

What I do when I do not blog for six whole days (and thus keep all my thoughts inside my head):

1. Become seriously stressed. Stop sleeping. Acquire an annoying eye twitch. Briefly mourn the release of grades. Worry about internship-seeking process. Procrastinate upcoming research paper (technically a summary judgment motion, but it has the annoyance factor of a research paper).

2. Receive a steady supply of treats from my friend M., who likes to bake and knows I like to eat treats. For example, Friday, C. and I received cookies with Reese's peanut butter cups in the center. Tuesday, chocolate cookies. Yesterday, a frozen cookie pie (M. brought it to school and I baked it at home).

3. Repeat no. 1 (see above), now adding an unwelcome element of anxiety about the possible meaning of the constant treats (and the accompanying e-mails).

4. Decide to get over myself. Eat the cookie pie (with ice cream on top) and stop worrying about its implications, sign up for two interviews (and one possible interview for the job that sounded most interesting) at upcoming job fair, send resumes to where I really want to work (to remain unnamed until further notice), stop complaining about summary judgment motion and start thinking about working on it, try sleep-inducing bubble bath, and watch three episodes of "The Office" with C. to recover from it all.

5. Realize that I did not blog about this before because no one would actually want to read about this ...

Odds And Ends ...

This week I learned about chicken, compliments of Frigaliment Importing Co. v. B.N.S. International Sales Corp., a case in which the opinion asked, "What is chicken?" and then answered with this gem: "Chicken is everything except a goose, a duck, and a turkey."

So that explains the funny taste of my chicken strips from Costco.

And winter finally arrived here this week. Yesterday, our beautiful, huge snowflakes accumulated into about an inch of snow, causing local schools to close (seriously), and leading to the debut of my new birthday boots ...

If You Give A Class A Cookie ...

... Someone will ask you why.

And when you tell that someone that you brought the cookies because Mitt Romney won the Michigan primary, she will ask you in disbelief if you really brought them for such a reason. And then you will tell the truth and say, no, you actually thought of that reason on the walk to class, and that you actually brought those mint Oreo cookies because you did not want them anymore. (You would leave out the part about how you did not want them anymore because you had already eaten half the package. All by yourself. And you would likely eat the other half in one sitting, which would be bad. So you removed the temptation.) And then you would say that you are so glad that you thought of that reason on the walk to class, because now everyone can enjoy Mitt Romney's victory, thanks to those delicious, celebratory cookies. And then your nine Democrat classmates would look at you in barely disguised disgust that you would really think a cookie would suddenly change their excitement level about a Republican primary election. And you would realize that while law school students will do many things for a decent treat, even they have their limits. And through it all, you will still be glad, because Mitt finally won a primary, AND you just ate a delicious mint Oreo cookie ...

I Am Not A Mystery ...

Before I became really old (two days ago) I liked to consider myself a mysterious person. Evidently I am not. This much has become clear with my newly acquired wisdom. For example:

Evidently everyone knows I like things to be yellow, based on the envelopes I received in the mail for my birthday. (Sorry, no photos. Like I would show these envelopes and reveal my address, for any blog stalkers to read. I may not be mysterious anymore, but I am not insane!)

Evidently everyone knows the restaurant where I will eat my birthday dinner. My mom sent me a giftcard to The Cheesecake Factory BEFORE I told her we planned to go there. (Since giftcards do not make for fabulous photos, see my friends and me at said dinner. And before everyone feels really bad for/jealous of lone male, K., I will say that some other boys did join us for games later, so K. did not spend the entire night alone with five girls.)

But my birthday did bring a bit of mystery after all, so I saved that part for my grand finale. (Drum roll, please.) Earlier this week, I received a typed, anonymous note in my mailbox at school. The note told me to pick up a gift from my box before 1 p.m. on my birthday. I wondered all week what type of gift would need to be picked up before 1 p.m., and eventually concluded it must be some edible item.

Not so! Instead, I found (wrapped in brown paper, but not ticking, so I concluded that nothing would explode if opened) my second Prof. M bobble-head! So evidently everyone knows my favorite professor, too. (Note: I really do not walk around telling people how much I like Prof. M. I only tell the people who read this blog. And the anonymous gift giver, who turned out to be my friend M., does not know about this blog. I actually think I like Prof. M the same amount as everyone else, except maybe the people who make these bobble-heads. I think they like him more than I do …)

A Lesson From A Fox ...

In a case today, from my Property book (which yesterday provided the manure case):

A man chases a fox, intending to kill it. Another man sees the chase, and, being competitive, vindictive or some other -ive, purposely kills the fox instead. So, of course, the first man sues the second man. But when the judge writes, “pursuit alone vests no property or right in the huntsman,” I do not think of foxes or property. I think of dating woes (general dating woes, not any particular ones, for the record) ... how sad ...

Disclaimer: That seemed more interesting in my head than it does on my screen. But since I spent those three minutes typing it, and since I cannot think of any other interesting tidbits to share with my loyal readers, I am not deleting it.

Round Two ...

Two days into the semester and I can see (with my psychic powers, naturally) that it will be an interesting one. Today, for example, I read an actual case about two men arguing over who owned a heap of manure that one man had shoveled from the street. Yes. They both wanted the manure, and I am reading about it, nearly 200 years later.

My teachers also seem to be an interesting, and definitely quirky, bunch. The young one, Prof. C, practically bounces around as he lectures, while the old one, Prof. F, buzzes (OK, his hearing aids buzz, a problem for which I have developed profound sympathy). Anyway, buzzing and bouncing included, I like them all. And, random trivia, all attended Harvard (three for their law degrees, and two for undergrad).

Now, random photo of the day:

My books, with bobble-head Prof. M (same as last semester), a Christmas gift from C. ...

I'm Back ...

Here I am, back in D.C., and back to Capital C. I am excited to be back. Mostly because a) I have a comfy bed, which nobody stole or destroyed during the three weeks my apartment remained uninhabited b) the weather feels slightly warmer than the less-than-freezing temperatures at home and c) this semester I am taking Constitutional Law. And I am happy about that. For now at least. And more on that later. I am also disappointed to be back. Mostly because a) I like my family b) I like my friends and c) I like to see people I like.

OK, back to Constitutional Law. Today I read a few Federalist Papers on the plane. (For an assignment, not simply for my entertainment. I am not that nerdy.) A few sentences made me think of the current political state in general and a certain governor currently running for pastor-in-chief in specific. (Hint: I do NOT heart Huckabee.) Worst case scenario, on November 5, after I stop crying, I might simply say that James Madison predicted it back in 1787, in Federalist No. 10: "Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm."

And now, an important announcement: I got a camera for Christmas. So now my random prattle will more likely be accompanied by a random photo. Like these:

My bags. Yes, I transported them home from the airport all by myself. I decided to avoid the Metro and brave a taxi, however. Best $10 I have spent all week. Can you imagine me wheeling all of this baggage to the Metro, through the mall and across the street to my apartment, all at rush hour? Yeah, me neither.

Guess what, boys. Not only can I read and write (we all know doing arithmetic does not really happen for me) but I can also make it from the airport, to my apartment, to Costco, to the grocery store and home in an hour and 30 minutes. Seriously. I am pretty proud of myself. I think I am officially the fastest grocery shopper in the universe ...