Book Clubbing

I was going to head to Borders this weekend to pick up some books to read and then a surprise package came in the mail. My parents know their bookworm daughter all too well, and sent over two books for an early birthday present: A Thousand Spendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and The Assault on Reason by Al Gore.

Some of my friends from school and I were talking about starting a book club over the summer since we actually have time for leisure reading now. I mentioned that I received Hosseini's latest book (if you haven't read the Kite Runner, you should!) and everyone immediately nominated it as our first book.

So, if you're looking for a summer book to read, you know what I'll be reading first and I'll be happy to discuss. And if you have any recommendations for book #2, send it over.

A Tale of Two Cities

Although every city has diversity of areas and populations, I remember reading that Washington, DC is the tale two of two cities. We have a bigger income gap than any other state (richest fifth is 27x as wealthy poorest fifth, whereas nationwide the richest fifth is 10x as wealthy). And while half of the population here has a college degree (whereas only a fourth of the general population has a college degree), DC is also infamous for its struggling education system.

The events that I've been these past two nights do a good job symbolizing these two sides of our nation's capital city.

At the Nationals game with the DC Bruins, I remember David saying that RFK stadium represented every negative generalization about DC: Run-down, old, slow, and bureaucratic. Though the company I was with was enjoyable, the stadium itself was horrible-- especially after going to Camden Yards. Not in the best part of town, RFK stadium is dilapidated and neglected. The will-call office had an absurd time figuring out how to distribute our tickets, giving tickets to the wrong people and losing the tickets of people who already paid. Once in the stadium, ATM machines were rare even though none of the food stands took card. I spent a good 20 minutes standing in line trying to get cash, while at least 3 people infront of me couldn't get the machine to work. On the bright-side for DC, the Nationals beat the Dodgers despite being shut out the previous two nights.

Today was a different experience. After work, some people from law school met up at the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden for a free outdoor jazz concert. Everyone was out dipping their feet into the fountain, picnicking on fine food and drinking Sangria. The other side of DC: brainy, young, lively, and full of free cultural offerings. I don't know another city in the US, or world even, that has as many free museums, concerts, screens on the green, and even a free zoo with a panda baby.

This summer I'm giving myself permission to be a tourist and explore all parts of DC. I have to do something to fill in all the hours when I'm usually stuck in my apartment reading cases.

Meet the Press

I have a love/hate relationship with the media. It's really gone downhill and I can't even read CNN.com anymore because it's so sensationalistic with ridiculous "news" coverage that is mostly about celebrities instead of real issues. Forgot about TV news, especially local news.

Yet, I'm hooked. I read multiple newspapers online throughout the day and usually go to bed reading Newsweek. As I was doing research for work today, I realized how important the news is to doing our job analyzing and influencing policy. Our office relies on what the news media gathers and in turn, uses forums like the editorial page to get its own point across. We even had an event 2 weeks ago in the Edward Murrow room at the Press Club to invite journalists to write about Guantanamo Bay issues.

Maybe my frustration with the news comes from the fact that I know how influential they can be and how they are not living up that. They have the power to investigate like few people can, shape the debate, influence people.

As I had to "dig" to find stuff about extrodinary rendition (CIA outsourcing torture...if you don't know about it already, read about it because it's crazy stuff), government watch lists, and habeas corpus stuff, I thought to myself "why isn't this stuff making headlines?" The more current events I read outside of the very mainstream news, the more disappointed I am: both at the fact of what's actually going on but moreso that so many people are compeltely unaware.

I know a lot of people, especially people my age, are sick of it. I even met a guy who was in tv and broadcast journalism for four years who got so sick of it by the end that he decided to go to law school instead. (some of you may laugh at the thought the someone though law was a more noble profession). I wonder if it will get to the point that it will be so bad, the pendulum will swing and people will demand better.

Rush Hour

As part of my new 9-5 routine, I get to ride the metro to the heart of the city during rush hour every morning. To say that the metro is crowded is an understatement. This Peep diorama, a finalist in the Washington Post's Peep Show, is a perfect depiction of rush hour. It was so crowded when I was coming home today that I had to wait for the next metro to come. Plus during the summer, it's especially hot, which makes people even crankier both on their way to and from work.

Maybe the sunny weather is making me more optimistic, or maybe the heat is making me more dellusional. Either way, I don't really mind rush hour metro'ing. I am a huge fan of public transportation- I even used the barely existent mass transit when I lived in California. And unlike in LA and other cities, I love the fact that a diverse cross-section of the DC population utilizes the metrorail and bus. Service workers, business people in suits, interns, tourists from all around, people of all races and socioeconomic levels. This also makes for great people watching.

Plus, it could be worse. I don't have reading that I need to rush home to do. I don't have to wait out in the cold, praying that the bus is running on time. And above everything, I don't have to sit in a car during LA rush hour.

Working 9 to 5

5 Reasons why I love my new externship:

• Constitutional law issues all the time! And putting my nerdy knowledge to practical use makes it even better.
  
• Seven total interns and a fun senior staff creates the busy office environment with lots of projects going on that I haven't had since I interned on the Hill.
  
• The organization I'm working for is bipartisan, which is something I'm not used to. I'm excited for the challenge, like my first assignment: writing an op-ed convincing Senator Sam Brownback to support habeas corpus restoration for Guantanamo detainees--from a conservative standpoint.
  
• I get a great mix of handling legal, policy, and political issues, with a side of event planning too (*crossing my fingers for the Sandra Day O'Connor event*).
  
• I have an office, well actually I share an office but I don't mind because my fellow intern is really nice and we talked about how they suspended Habeas Corpus in Pirates of the Carribean. Yes, fellow law nerd. But most importantly, I got to stock up on office supplies today. Post-its!

Although I don't get paid, I get six units-- which is many more units per hour compared to the ratio for all the work during the school year. Oh, and can you tell that this seems a tad bit more enjoyable than some of those classes during the year?

It's only been one day but I have a feeling it's going to be a fun summer. I can only hope that I will be as excited when I take my first job out of law school.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I'm back from a wonderful week frolicking around the East Coast. I think the trip and all the relaxing made it finally feel like summer (the 90 degree weather also helps). Here are some highlights, pictures, and mini-restaurant reviews...it's long, but only because we had so much fun.

Syracuse, NY

• Lots of car shopping because Alex's Saturn was dying. Not my favorite type of shopping, but Alex is now the proud owner of a Honda Civic, just like I used to be.
  
• Karaoke for Alex's co-worker's birthday. From women with bad perms, feathered bangs, and shiny stretch pants singing country ballads, to very drunk men screaming heavy metal-- we pretty much we were stuck in the bad part of the 80s/white trash era. The worst/scariest was a woman who had a pair of eyes tattooed on her cleavage. Overall a fun night though, especially when Alex's friends made him sing Kelly Clarkson's Miss Independent.
• Belated Anniversary dinner at La Cena, a really cute restaurant serving "latin american, mexican, and caribbean fare." The paella and relleno were good, but the stand out of the night was the fresh mango, avocado & strawberry salad. If you ever happen to find yourself out in Syracuse, definitely check it out.

From NY to DE

• Had to skip Philly because we were running a day late, but we were able to pass Scranton, PA (for all you Office fans) and Hazleton, PA (for all people in my Property class).
• Pennsylvania had the first rest-stop bathrooms I would actually go into. So clean!
• Ate at Where Pigs Fly in Dover. Pretty good bbq place, especially since they have baked sweet potatoes as a side.
  

Rehoboth Beach, DE

• The BEACH! Dare I say, I would put Rehoboth up there with nice California beaches. The waves were smaller, but I don't go in the water anyway. They had big umbrellas and fancy wooden lawnchairs for people, the beach itself was very clean, and the white picket fence around the beach was very cute East Coast. I don't know if I got much tanner but it was very relaxing just lying out on the sand.
  
• Alex and I practically went to all 150+ stores at the Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth for some tax-free shopping. Best deals of the day: a $30 suit for me and a $24 pair of leather loafers for Alex.
• The boardwalk area of Rehoboth is also very quaint and enjoyable, especially because we came before the crazy Memorial Day weekend rush. Be sure to check out Claws Crab House (where Alex enjoyed crab legs for $5 at happy hour) and the Frogg Pond (for some amazing Chesapeake chicken wings) on the main street if you ever visit.

Washington, DC

• Ended the trip back in my home and had dinner down Connecticut Ave at Spices, an Asian fusion and sushi place that was tasty and decently priced. Alex and I shared dumplings and sushi. The mango sticky rice for dessert was especially tasty.
• Went to go see Pirates 3. It's a fun summer movie- not exactly mindless though because I (and the critics) thought it was confusing.
  
• We decided to beat the heat by going to the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum, located across the street from the movie theater. Good museum, and like all others public museums in DC, it was free. My favorite exhibit was the Presidential portraits of course, but I'm a nerd like that.
• Walked around Adam's Morgan and had Ethiopian food for dinner at Meskerem. I preferred Meskerem to Zed's in Georgetown because (1) the food was better, and (2) instead of fancy white tableclothes and regular chairs, we got to sit on leather "poufs" (like cushy ottomons), and our "table" was like a big basket turned upside down. I won't even try to describe Ethiopian food for those who hadn't had it, but Alex and I had fun eating with our hands.
• Next day we drove up to Baltimore to catch the Oakland A's play the Orioles. Camden Yards is absolutely gorgeous with all of the brick. The game was pretty fun too even though it was really hot and humid.

Memorial Day is supposed to be the start of summer, but I guess I got a head start. Thanks to the boyfriend for driving me all around. I think I fully recovered from my first year of law school and am ready for the busy summer ahead.

The End