Alex's D.C. Comical Life

Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years.

2005-11-22T14:18:00.000-05:00

Surprise!! Are you amazed that I'm back? No, I didn't forget about the blog. It just sort of slowly faded to the back of the perpertual to-do list and eventually out of my daily thought process. Yes, it has been sorely neglected. I originally meant to use it as a way to communicate while I was in Europe this summer and seeing how I returned four months ago, that obviously did not happen. I did write an article for a student magazine that was published that gives some insight into my trip. You can access it by clicking on the title of this blog entry above.

In the meantime, although I know the road to Hell is ppaved with good intentions (or something like that), but I do intend to start writing on this as finals approach. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by again.

GBM, We'll miss you

2005-08-11T18:21:00.000-04:00

My brother flew into BWI on Tuesday afternoon to visit (he's still here by the way and we're having an awesome time. More on that later). I didn't check my email until late that evening to find an email from one of the women who works in admissions, who wrote me saying "Alex- Can you please call me at my office number. It’s very important." I thought that was a very odd email to receive. I then read the next email that came from her which was sent about 90 minutes later that said,

"Unfortunately, I’m the bearer of very sad news. I heard today from an WCL alum that Greg Mergen recently died."

Greg was the first person I spoke to at WCL after admissions and one of the first people I met here. Watching him work and talking to him was one of the reasons I wanted to work at the computer lab. Greg had the ability to use his immense wit and intelligence in a number of different ways. He was caring, funny, intelligent, a superb conversationalist, and incredibly observant. Not only was he dedicated to his job (unfortunately more so than any supervisor of his could ever see), but he was fun and interesting to work with. He connected with dozens of people who simply came to the lab to have their computers fixed and left them laughing and smiling.

Greg, you will be missed deeply. I am so glad that I was able to work with you this past year. I'm sure anyone else who has known Greg over his 35 of life feels the same way. If you want to gather some insight into Greg's life (and possibly leave a note to share), you can view his blog at http://homepage.mac.com/gbm/iblog/

Here's a link to the obituary from his hometown newspaper: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1698&dept_id=21847&newsid=14998832&PAG=461&rfi=9

Day 1: London: First impressions

2005-06-11T11:55:00.000-04:00

My plane landed at Heathrow about six hours ago. It was a good flight in (thanks to the good folks at Air Canada for that!). I wanted to fly a European airline over here because I've heard the service is exponentially better than it is on U.S. airlines, so I wasn't sure where Air Canada would fit on that spectrum. I think they're probably somewhere in the middle. They served two meals on the flight... and I am happy to report they met my most basic need: free booze. So I had a glass of red wine with dinner. I was expecting to have a few more than that, but I fell asleep instead. On the tube into London, I realized that I'm glad I didn't get shitty. Day one in a new town... going through customs... already smelling bad from wearing the same clothes for more than a day... drinking heavily would not be a good idea To get through customs and to navigate my way through the airport, let alone the city, I had to be on. Being drunk would have been stupid. That was not the time or the palce to not be in total control. This revelation also leads me to think that I might not drink as much as I orignially thought I would. We'll see......

Three countries and five time zones in two days can to a lot to a person's body. They make two days flow seamlessly into one another the way two days are not meant to do. The night kind of gets lost in there and I am feeling the effects of that right now. Walking around London, it has felt like my body was moving but I was not in control of it. Very oddly surreal. If this entry has no mistakes, it will be a miracle.

The tube is cool. Reminds me a lot of NYC's Subway more than Washington's Metro. The trains seem very 1950s futuristic looking. I got off at the Charing Cross station which put me right in Trafalgar Square. It was then that I realized I didn't have a clue where I was going and worse yet, Londoners apparently don't feel like spending money on adequate street signs is a good investment. So I wandered around a bit before I got my bearings, found my hotel, and Stacey met me (THANK YOU!).

So far, so good here. One last thought: I know they say you should stay up all day the first day someone flies to Europe so that the sleep schedules are correct, but I don't think I'll make it. It's already 5:00 here and I'm fading fast.

360 Degrees

2005-05-22T02:13:00.000-04:00

So that's it. First year is over. It's still kind of hard to believe that the uncertainty that I have lived under for the past two years is over. A year of uncertainty of whether or not I would actually get into law school was followed by a year of uncertainty of if I belonged at American University. I have the utmost respect for my classmates. Although I never wavered in my belief that I belonged at WCL and that it was the right palce for me, I have wondered about my internal drive and ability to follow through and do this whole law school thing right. I think I am. It is awfully strange knowing that when I return to Washington for school, it won't be on a week's notice. I'll know what's going on. I won't be the slightest bit intimidated by what I need to accomplish from here on out. I have a year of law school under my belt. Although it's not quite an entire third of school, there's plenty of time to make it up.

Celebration with the evening crew was at Local 16 last Friday night and it was awesome. We all had so much energy to let out. It was such a nice release. To do it and be there with so many people who have just experienced the same painful year that I have was great. I feel so close to everyone in my section. It's nice to know that we'll still be together for two classes next year.

Heading to Cleveland was a good place to go. It was nice to get out of town; I didn't feel like I needed to "escape" D.C. as quickly as possible or anything, but it was nice to have the opporunity to leave and not worry about having assignments looming when I return. Jacobs Field is beautiful; easily the nicest ballpark I have been to yet, although I would like to see a baseball game at Dodger Stadium (I saw DMB perform there 5/22/01. A beautiful stadium but it needs to be seen in its proper use to judge it impartially). Cedar Point was crazy. Riding roller coasters (particularly the Millennium Force) was the perfect outlet for the remainder of my pent-up stress and a great way to officailly mark the end of my first vacation in a long time. The Millennium Force, the park's biggest and baddest amusement park, was the last ride Alli and I went on before we left. a 310-foot drop, going 93 miles per hour at an 80-degree angle is a bit exhilirating and it provided a moment of zen for me. I got off that ride feeling less stress than I have in almost three years. As dumb as it sounds, I feel like a different person.

An interesting observation at the amusement park: it was great being able to go on a Monday afternoon during the school year. We only had to wait on line for the last ride. However, there were a ton of high school kids there who apparently can afford the absensces or just don't care (the nerd that I was in high school would have never ditched school to go to an amusement park! Just to another school. Ask Theresa). Anyway, many wore their high school hooded sweatshirts emblazoned with their names on the back. Some had their first names, some their last names, others nicknames; some even had uniform numbers. Note to people who wear high school sports garb to public places not affiliated with their high schools: I'm sure these are great self importance broadcasters at your school or in your community, but at a large amusement park, no one cares that you're on the football team or a cheerleader. Furthermore, I don't give a shit what your name is. It's great that you have such pride in your school, but leave the personalized stuff home.

So now I'm back in AZ. It took a little longer than I expected (about seven hours more, to be exact) to get home, but I'm here. Yesterday was my first full day back and coincidentally also the first day of the year when the temperature reached triple digits. It really is good to be home.

Done.

2005-05-14T10:59:00.000-04:00

And now I'm a 2L.

Word up.

The Halls Of WCL Are Alive With The Sound Of Music

2005-05-11T14:49:00.000-04:00

So John listed 15 songs that are getting him through exams. I have in turn made my own list, albeit a bit shorter. I have reasons for listening to some of them frequently as of late; others are just catchy to me right now for some unknown reason. Here goes my list:

1. "Jesus of Suburbia," Green Day (The "getting me pumped" song of the hour. And if you didn't know better, you wouldn't think Billy Joe could write such a powerful song.)

2. "99 Problems," Jay-Z (Inspiration for an away message. You can't get much higher homage than that.)

3. "Lost & Found," DJ Shadow (A very cool drum beat that I can't stop listening to. Reminds me a lot of Sunday, Bloody Sunday.)

4. "Best Imitation of Myself," Ben Folds Five

5. "My First Song," Jay-Z (He is one angry motherfucker!)

6. "All Falls Down," Kanye West

7. "Frontin'," Jamie Cullum (The kid's voice is amazing. He should like he should have been performing 50 years ago with the Rat Pack in Vegas.)

8. "Some Fantastic," Barenaked Ladies

9. "Everything In Its Right Place," Radiohead (Uplifting and motivational in an odd, abstract way.)

10. "Democracy in Kind," State Radio

Here are some songs that I should be listening to for motivation, but I'm not. Notice the connection between the themes of these songs and the classic "no respect" cliches that athletes give during the postseason. Maybe they're linked through following the NBA Playoffs and cheering for the Suns. Who knows?

1. "Me Against The World," 2Pac

2. "I Want It All," Queen

Getting a little behind

2005-04-21T12:24:00.000-04:00

Sorry folks, I've basically been too lazy to post on here for the past few days, so here's a run down of the four things I have wanted to talk about. (Oops.)

From the Double Talk Department...

2005-04-16T14:48:00.000-04:00

I don't know if he realizes it or not, but Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg came across like the neighborhood bully in a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle. He seems to really relish the idea of making boisterous claims about how big and bad Verizon is, how they're better then everyone else (who is of course stupid), but at the same time expects too much out of his better-than-everyone-else company. Some of the highlights:

On San Francisco's plan to establish a city-wide Wi-Fi network: "That could be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard." Gee, it couldn't have anything to do with the city potentially becoming a direct competitor to his company's and probably providing a much cheaper service, could it? Sour grapes much?

On people complaining about "unrealistic" cell phone service expectations: "Why in the world would you think your (cell) phone would work in your house?" he said. "The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator; they want it to work in the bsaement." Well, yeah. That's why we buy mobile phones: to use wherever we go. And we'd like steadily improving service. Perhaps the "Can you hear me now? Good!" Verizon commercials give us that expectation that our phones will work everywhere. If you don't want us to think our phones will work everywhere, don't advertise them saying that they will.

Congratulations to the writer of this piece, Todd Wallack, for exposing Seidenberg as a first-rate asshole. I had no idea how predatory their fearless leader is. I never really had any bad feelings toward Verizon until now.

Still in One Piece

2005-04-13T11:48:00.000-04:00

It's over. Last Monday I turned in my appellate brief, went to class, and then went to celebrate by watching UNC beat Illinois over a few beers at the Park Bench.

Yesterday, I had my oral argument: 15 minutes of trying to get my point across while judges would interrupt me and ask questions for what they wanted answers (the nerve!) and... I've lived to blog about it! That means that I have officially completed Legal Rhetoric and one of my first year classes. I couldn't be happier. Now I get to focus on one paper, two finals, and planning my summer trip to Europe.

Eric and Debi came to town this past weekend from NY. It was a good time. We drank a lot, ate a lot, saw a lot of cherry blossoms... nothing like a good weekend of excess shared by good friends from out of town! However, one of the unsung highlights had to be receiving a Jews for Jesus pamphlet on The Mall while headed to the National Gallery. John was good enough to write a blog entry about it, where you can check out the pamphlet. John pretty much sums up my thoughts on the issue.

"I'm tired..."

2005-03-24T14:26:00.001-05:00

I use "I'm tired" as the beginning of this story for two reasons: because I'm tired of something and because a famous person happened to utter those words quite a few times a couple of days ago.

First of all, I'm tired of everything dealing with Terri Schiavo. It is a terrible, sad, story. What is happening to her is terrible. I don't know whether or not the two parties fighting for her, her husband and her parents, are truly acting in her best interests or their own. She is the hot potato stuck in the middle. Now, she is also getting tossed between the Florida Legislature, Congress, both dubya and Jeb, and a multitude of courts and Judges. News flash for those urging to take action: the courts all made their decisions. Those "tyrannical" judges you talk about are the same ones who you constantly bitch at for being activist judges. Now when they don't act, you yell at them for that. Boy, do I love hypocrisy! This is a case about one woman in Florida and her husband. I'm sure it's disappointing that the judge's ruling did not go the way you would have liked, but the decision has been made... over, and over, and over again. Accept it.

Secondly, apparently Barry Bonds is tired also. At least he said it enough times in an interview Tuesday, 14 times by one count. He must be very frustrated with three kneww surgeries, but is there more to it? He talked about sitting out the season because of arthroscopic knee surgery, but come on, football players have similar procedures done during the season and still come back and play. I doubt Barry's knee would face the same abuse as football players'. On the other hand, there are two other 800-pound gorillas nearby with Barry: steroids and the home run record. I don't know Barry's true motives, but is it possible that he's doing this to let the steroid firestorm ride out? And what about the home run record... he's 11 away from tying Babe Ruth and 52 behind Hank Aaron. Maybe he doesn't want to have to deal with the inevitable abuse he'll receive for breaking that record amid the steroids allegations? Who knows. But Barry, you're not a sympathetic figure. You're blaming the media for your problems and trying to look sympathetic via... the media. Do you really think that will work? The media did not try to take you down. When you come across as defiant as you do, you do a pretty fine job of smearing your own good name.

Survey Follow-Up

2005-03-15T02:03:00.000-05:00

In a previous post, I tried to think of the perfect word to describe the WCL library. Well, I think I have finally discovered that perfect word. It's a simple word that just flows out of my mind and just as easily off my tongue to describe it: poisonous. It's so simple, isn't it? Destructive. Harmful. Spiteful. Malicious. The library is all of these things and more.

Oh, and I misspelled poisonous to lose my 4th grade spelling bee to Chris Smith and Joe Reising (I spelled it poisionous. My bad!). I'm still bitter about it to this say. Considering I still talk to Joe, I guess I'm not too bitter...

Screw Christmas, this is the most wonderful time of the year!

2005-03-15T00:30:00.000-05:00

Since I'm finishing up the write-on I'm not supposed to talk about, I won't talk about it. Instead, I'll talk about the good things that will happen this week.

First of all, spring is definitely in the air. It was sunny and beautiful today. Along with my trip to Arizona on Friday, I'm starting to get optimistic about the weather. And I'll actually get to experience a real spring for the first time in my life!

Beyond that, Thursday will be a confluence of two of the greatest days possible: St. Patrick's Day and the first day of the NCAA basketball tournament. Green beer served all day and college basketball all day. I don't think life gets any better. I'm sure the two fall on the same day every few years. I've never noticed it before. But I'm hoping that I'll get my laundry done Wednesday night so that I can watch basketball and drink beer all damn day!

Quote of the night

2005-03-14T21:57:00.000-05:00

"If you're gonna go on a bender, you better have a good pair of sunglasses."
-Mr. X

L'chaim!

Survey...

2005-03-07T22:57:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to think of the perfect word to describe the WCL library. The ideal word captures all of the inherent evilness that the library embodies; the way you dread going there, the way it takes away any motivation you have to do work, the way it slowly sucks any semblance of life out of you, the way you lose time in there and end up wasting away an entire day in seclusion with no contact with the outside world. It's almost casino-like in that respect, except people go to casinos to have fun. If any law students have any ideas, please offer your opinions. My options so far have ranged from dismal to corrosive and caustic. John thought of "pit of despair." Accurate, but I was hoping for one word. Any suggestions?

About as "No Spin" as Fox News

2005-02-26T11:45:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have followed the case of Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman whose husband and parents have fought a prolonged legal battle over removing Terri's feeding tube, the Judge in the case ordered that her feeding tube be removed in three weeks. While this has been a horrible, tragic story, some people seem to have lost track over the idea that it is a legal battle, not a referendum on euthanasia or a battle of morals. It is a legal battle with a legal question. The L.A. Times reported that Cardinal Renato Martino, the head of the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace said that bringing about Schiavo's death would be a "grave step" toward legalizing euthanasia in the United States. This case is about who has final say over an incapacitated woman, or possibly who is representing her wishes correctly since she did not have a living will. This case has nothing to do with euthanasia. The Vatican is either trying to spin this into a moral issue rather than a legal issue or needs to re-examine how the approach controversies such as this.

Bleeding Kansas

2005-02-25T11:53:00.000-05:00

I started reading Paul Krugman as a junior in college in an international political economy class where we were assigned to read a book edited by Krugman. I later found that he writes a regular column in the New York Times and have read it ever since. The guy is a Princeton economics professor and an excellent writer... absolutely brilliant. He has also assailed President Bush and his allies on a number of policies. He attacks the President's policies logically and very thoroughly.

When I saw the headline for today's column was "Kansas On My Mind," I assumed it was about Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline demanding the complete medical records of women who have had late-term abortions. He says he needs the records for criminal prosecutions. Right. This is the same Attorney General who tried to require state employees to report sexual activity by minors under the age of 16. Alas, I was wrong about the subject of the column

Instead, it was about USA Next's efforts to sabatoge and destroy the AARP, a la the Swift Boat ads of this summer, because the AARP doesn't support privatizing Medicare. Krugman has written several columns about the Medicare issue directly, ranging from how the numbers don't add up in the plan to how Bush's tactics in this battle are eerily similar to how he sold invading Iraq to the American people (through a lot of deception and lies, is basically Krugman's argument).

Silly me for guessing the wrong Republican agenda item.

Bitch Set Me Up!

2005-02-19T23:25:00.000-05:00

In honor of Black History Month, they've been playing small commercials with prominent African-Americans. They show pictures and talk about the person's accomplishments set to Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable," which doesn't seem like a very appropriate song for some of the people that they feature, but Cole himself is a famous African-American and the people are unforgettable indeed.

Anyway, I've seen two of them so far. The first was this afternoon: Thurgood Marshall, absolutely one of the most influential people, let alone African-Americans, of the second half of the 20th century. He was the lead attorney in Brown v. Board of Education, was the visionary behind the legal movement to desegregate the south as an attorney for the NAACP, and became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Without a doubt, an icon and a role model for anyone.

The second one I saw, however, was not so much of a role model: Marion Barry, former Mayor of Washington, DC, and current city councilman. If you recall, Barry was arrested and forced out of office after getting caught on video smoking crack in a hotel room. He served a sentence in federal prison before getting re-elected as DC's Mayor in 1994 and returned to District politics as a city councilman this past year (he received 96% of the vote). The commercial talked about how he has had "recent struggles" but has "overcome the obstacles in his life." Yeah, I'd say someone videotaping you smoking crack is a bit of an obstacle, albeit a self-imposed one. It seems like the group that made these commercials could have picked a more appropriate person to profile.

UPDATE: I saw one more commercial from this series, one featuring Marvin Gaye: a very talented R&B and soul musician of the 1960s and 70s, who was shot and killed by his father after Marvin attacked him while strung out on coke and meth. Another slight character flaw?

Pizzeria Bianco: The Anti-Chain

2005-02-19T17:37:00.000-05:00

After ripping on Phoenix's restaurant scene, I must comment on a place that vindicates the city's reputation: Pizzeria Bianco. Recently, a New York Times food critic called Pizzeria Bianco the best pizza in the country. Yes, that's right. A pizza place in Phoenix. Best in the United States. By the New York Times. Chris Bianco, the owner of the pizzeria, is a control freak who will not let anything come out of his kitchen that he doesn't personally cook. As a result, he will not expand beyond the one location that has no more than about 40 seats. Given its growing reputation and the size of the place, you can imagine the lines. You can't get in without waiting less than 45 minutes, if you're lucky. I hate waiting for food more than most people, but even I think it's worth the wait. The crust is wood-fired and has an unbelievable taste and perfect texture. He uses only fresh, local ingredients that are surprisingly flavorful. Then he combines unique toppings to make his fabulous pizzas. If anyone's in the Phoenix area, put eating at Pizzeria Bianco near the top of your to do list.

mmmmm, Asian-type food.

2005-02-18T16:46:00.000-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am very anti-chain restaurant. If I have my choice between going to Chili's or a local hole-in-the-wall joint, Chili's will not be the restaurant to receive my patronage. I truly think Phoenix's metro area, a large, modern city that has expansive sprawl and has yet to find its cultural roots, might be the chain restaurant capital of the world. Within a five mile radius of my parents' house, I can count two Chili's, two Applebee's, a Friday's, Pei Wei, Ruby Tuesday, Sweet Tomatoes, Bahama Breeze, Red Lobster... well, you get the idea. Anyway, I was disappointed but not surprised to see that P.F. Chang's wants to open a new restaurant. Laura Cherry, company spokeswoman, said "Atmosphere and type of service will play a very important role" in this new upcoming restaurant. "We know it will be Asian in nature with a price point slightly higher than the Bistro."

When I hear about a new restaurant, I like to hear about a renowned chef or the dishes they plan to serve. "Asian in nature" does not do much to describe the latest restaurant.

What bothers me most about chain restaurants is the business-like nature of them. If P.F. Chang's could make more money selling shoes, they would drop the restaurant (excuse me, "China Bistro") business like a bad habit. Making high quality food and making people happy is not their primary goal. They are a money-making business venture first and eatery second. While atmosphere and service are nice, I'm going to a restaurant to eat. I care about the food, not the "price points."

Counting down the days

2005-02-11T09:25:00.000-05:00

In between working on my trial court memo and finishing my group research project, I've managed to notice that pitchers and catchers report to spring training next week. At least that's what Alli and the Washington Post tell me, so I'll believe them. I am very, very excited that the Nationals will start play in RFK Stadium in April (against the Mets for the exhibition opener and the D-Backs for the regular season home opener... what could be better?). As I'm sure you could imagine, the local media is covering the team quite a bit already (although the coverage could diminish once the season starts; the Nats still don't have a TV or radio deal in place yet. Apparently they do not want to rush into things). Tony Kornheiser is ripping the team while other writers speak highly of the game and the team. Thomas Boswell wrote of the "beautiful friendship" D.C. will soon have with the team.

Baseball seems to bring out the best in writers. Even though the game seems to have more historical scars than the other major sports in the United States (the Black Sox scandal of 1919... Pete Rose... the 1994 strike... the current steroids scandal... shall I continue?), its ability to rebound is remarkable. Writers write amazing prose to describe the game.. Can 't you pucture the stereotypical article about the green grass, the smell of the glove leather, etc? I love it. I love how the game brings out such good feelings in people. I love how it brings hope. I love how in the depths of winter, a person can look to the calendar and see when spring training starts and hold out until that magical day when a person can see highlights of their team basking in the sunshine of Florida or Arizona. I love how more than any other sport, it moves with the calendar and marks the beginning of each season. I am a baseball fan and will always be a baseball fan, first and foremost.

And with that in mind, I must quote Field of Dreams:

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

No wonder Everyone's Addicted to Starbucks

2005-02-04T23:38:00.000-05:00

Bill Simmons, ESPN's "Sports Guy," said this in his Super Bowl Blog about Starbucks:

"Say what you want about Starbucks, but you will not find a stronger cup of coffee on the planet. I'm convinced they put crack in it. Seriously. Eighteen months ago, I hated Starbucks and everything it represented. Now I can't drink any other coffee without getting a headache. How can you explain this? I'm convinced we're headed for one of the biggest scandals ever here. And just for the record, Peter and I stayed for an hour talking football, and he ordered TWO grande hazelnut lattes during that time. No wonder he can do 400 call-in interviews in six hours -- the man is running on pure hazelnut."

I think he's onto something here. It's just too bad that the Starbucks hater nation lost one more...

I foresee voter turnout issues there, too.

2005-02-01T15:28:00.000-05:00

While we're all glad Iraq held their first democratic elections in about 50 years this week, one notable Iraqi did not vote: Saddam Hussein. I hope this story was just a joke. Seems like the "locked up in an undisclosed location" situation would be enough to lead someone to believe that the guy wouldn't vote if the "we overturned his dictatorship" deal wouldn't tip someone off first. The best line from the article was, "The former dictator was eligible to vote as an Iraqi citizen with no criminal record. Despite being accused of crimes against humanity and genocide, he has not been convicted."

Even so, would getting convicted in a war crimes tribunal count towards one's Iraqi criminal record? Oh well, I guess we'll never know.

Ready for some football.

2005-01-31T19:12:00.000-05:00

It's been eight days since the last NFL action when we learned what the matchup of Super Bowl XXXIX would be. So for the first time since early September, we have gone mroe than a full week without an NFL game that counts for anything. Lucky for us, there's enough mass hysteria and coverage of the Super Bowl that no American citizen has to go more than about 45 seconds before finding some new tidbit of information about the big game.

On ESPN.com I found this article debating whether or not the current iteration of the Patriots should be considered a dynasty. The author debates the subject by comparing the team to what he calls the greatest dynasty of all time: the Ming Dynasty. Interesting strategy.

He consults an art curator from the Smithsonian (side note: I went to the museum of American History today with Scott, who was in town from NC. I didn't have a "D.C. moment" but it was a pretty incredible museum) to compare the two. Her quote: "Every dynasty has to have some product for public consumption, so I guess football is what the Patriots will leave behind."

This brings up a few thoughts: first, every football team leaves behind football, not just dynasties. The Patriots certainly play a successful type of football, but I don't see any lasting legacies from the team. As of now, they have appeared in the playoffs in three of the past four years, and have advanced to the Super Bowl in each of those years. It is certainly a good start, but they certainly have to sustain that success for several more years before leaving behind any type of lasting legacy, which would help their "dynasty" status. (by the way... Go Jets!)

The other point I thought of is how ridiculous it is for a reporter to compare a football team to a ruling order that controlled China for 276 years and built the Great Wall of China, one of the few human-built structures visible from space. I'm sorry, but Gillette Stadium doesn't quite compare to that. I am a huge sports fan and will be glued to the TV set on Sunday, but how much do we elevate sports in our culture today that a reporter would even consider writing an article like this? It's somewhat disturbing. I hope people don't take this idea too seriously. The accomplishments of a professional team cannot come close to that of a society and that team should not represent much more than the sport it plays.

Progress: it's a bitch

2005-01-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

A fellow Mac dork sent me this link a little while ago showing Steve Jobs and the original debut of the Mac in 1984. A few things struck me from it.

1. Steve Jobs in a tuxedo?? WTF?
2. Bad video quality. That alone could give away its age.
3. Everything looks so outdated!

I know the third one especially is relatively obvious, but I guess that's what 20 years of progress does. In the time we live in where computers are outdated in six months and obselete in three years, 20 years is an eternity. While I am glad that we are taking advantages of the progress we have made, it's pretty amazing to see where we came from. In retrospect, that original Mac is big, clunky, slow, and monochrome, yet at the time, it it was so amazingly advanced than most other personal computers. In terms of both design and functionality, it blew away the IBM and IBM compatible machines of the time.

The moral of the story: go Mac!

I hate job/school fairs

2005-01-26T21:06:00.000-05:00

WCL had its annual externship fair today. For those of you who don't know, externship is basically the same thing as an internship. I have no idea why law schools use the different name, probably to make themselves feel special or something. Anyway, most 1Ls go for externshps for their first summer in law school because you can't get an associateship until your second summer (that's where you get paid bank, work for a firm, and hopefully get a job offer for after law school).

As an undergrad and beyond, I have been to multiple fairs: job fairs, internship fairs, law school fairs, career fairs... you name it, they have a fair for it. They're relatively typical: everyone gets dressed up, lookin' pretty, printed resumes on fancy paper to try to make a good impression on each company/school's rep. they go up, try to start a conversation, kiss a lot of ass, and go off on their merry way to the next potential employer/school. Meanwhile, after their 30 seconds of talking to that rep is up, the next person goes and does the exact same thing to try to make a positive impression.

To be quite frank, I see little to no point in these. The last one I went to was last November. It was a law school fair in LA because I missed the one ASU held. Unfortunately, they were identical. Besides getting to hang out in California for a weekend, it was basically a waste of a trip. I didn't learn a damn thing. And it's difficult to make any type of impression when 5000 other blood-sucking potential law students have the same goal. The biggest thing I gained from that particular fair was each school's guidebook, which I could have requested over the internet. I didn't make any great connections and it surely didn't help me get into tons of law schools.

So when today came around, everyone in school dressed up in their suits and jackets and skirts. I came to school in jeans with no intention of going and even trying. I went, picked up the list of employers, and left. It's not worth my time to try and BS with these people who won't remember me in five minutes. I won't remember their name and I'm not talking to dozens of other students. Why would they remember mine, and in the end, how much say would the on-campus recruiter actually say in any hiring decisions (Debi, if you ever read this, an answer would be wonderful!)?

It took a lot less time and I got everything I could have out of it in about three minutes. Now, I look through it, contact any agency that sounds appealing, and go from there, while avoiding the bum rush on each of these poor, helpless recruiters dealing with an onslaught of the hundreds of other law students.