Goodbye Home

Dear The Consulate,

Thanks for being such a great apartment over the past year. It seems like just yesterday when my roommate and I first moved in to the huge empty apartment with just two suitcases each. Eventually we filled up the apartment with IKEA and Craigslist furniture, and it was the first apartment that really felt like mine.

You provided us everything that we needed for our first year of law school. A warm hello and goodbye from whoever was working at the front desk that day, prompt service from our two favorite repair men, and patience from the weekend front desk guy who would put up with our antics (like trying to move in a huge coffee table through the front door). Most importantly, you put up with our bouts of insanity and gave us a refuge from school.

We'll miss the funny internet connection names, the ever important supply of free coffee in the lobby, the kid with the afro, the cute little Indian kid, the weird music that came from our neighbor, the spectacular view of Rock Creek Park, the sunken living room, and more. If you were not so expensive, we would probably stay there for two more years, but alas, we will be right across the street.

Best,
Kristina

Things I've Learned This Week

• Moving across the street is as difficult and time consuming as moving across the city.
• Law professors are really smart people.
• Never assume that Democrats will vote on your side on Guantanamo issues (Loretta Sanchez) or that Republicans won't (Roscoe Bartlett, Walter Jones).
  
• East Coast people probably don't take West Coast lawyers seriously because some lawyers from California show up to big firm wearing jeans.
• Although the Shriners are kind of weird in a secret society kind of way, they do set up hospitals for kids and I respect that.
• There are no good restaurants around Capitol Hill.

The Longest Week Ever

I cannot believe that it was only Sunday when my computer crashed. Since then, I was hit on by a shriner, had my computer come back to life (hopefully), had lunch with the President of the American Conservative Union, had lunch with a lawyer representing six Guantanamo detainees, and had the Murphy's Rule day of moving (where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong: late movers, 2 broken elevators in my building, a closed loading dock, etc).

Though I still have to finish my law review comment while I am in California, I am really looking forward to going home next week. My life seems to go 100 mph over here, which I usually like. However, every once in a while I want to walk slow and enjoy the sunshine like a typical laid back Californian.

Boys' Club

I went from the fraternal Shriners yesterday to another boys' club today-- the big law firm. We went to the firm today to work on collarborative project and the only female attorney in the room was my boss.

The male dominated world at law firms, where females only make up 17% of partners, is certainly different than the non-profit world. In our office females outnumber men almost 3:1. However, it's not a new environment to this girl who was the only female on the district math team in elementary school and jr. high (nerd, I know), one of the few females on male-driven robotics team (even nerdier, I know), and a female in the political world.

Alex always asks me how I ended up with so many more male friends than female friends. I always thought it was because I had a brother and got along with males better. Although that may be true, I fianlly realized that it might also because I join so many male-dominated activities.

The Shrining

Today my office took a little field trip to check out some places for an event we're having. On the list was the Sphinx Club, a Shriner temple down the street. As I learned today, Shriners are an order of the Freemasons that wears red fez hats and loves the Middle Eastern aesthetic.

I have to admit that coming in through the side door, going through the dark and twisting hallways, and seeing all of the masonic symbols kind of creeped me out. Maybe after watching the Simpsons episode about the Stonecutters, a parody of the Freemasons, I was expecting guys in cloaks to come out. I was also expecting trap doors or secret meeting rooms since the place was eerily empty.

The Shriners, Masons, and other similar fraternal organizations are all intriguing to me. I read that they prefer to be called "esoteric" rather than strictly a secret society because there are only certain things that they wish to keep private. The select privacy only makes me want to figure out what it is.

I don't really plan on going back to the Shriner temple to figure out though. Even creepier than the dark hallways was the 60+ year shriner giving us a tour and hitting on me infront of my bosses, fellow interns, and a lawyer from a big firm the whole time. They all thought it was hiliarious and the remarks were so crazy that I couldn't help but laugh either. It definitely made our already strange tour even more memorable.

2 Weeks Notice

I cannot believe how quickly this summer is going. Two weeks left of work and they are definitely packed (and also full of packing). Today I helped plan our Sandra Day O'Connor event, tomorrow we are doing a walk through of a potential venue, Wednesday we're running a moot Congressional hearing to help prep a witness, Thursday is a tour of NPR, Friday is a going away party for the college interns.

It is going to be weird going back to school and returning to the school schedule of coming home to read instead of watch reality tv. Of waiting 20 minutes for the bus instead of a minute for the metro during rush hour. We'll see if what the rumor that they work you to death during your second year is true (as opposed to scaring you your first year and boring you your third year). I am hoping that my activities and classes that I actually got to pick will make this year more exciting than last.

I know that there's a little less than a month until school starts, and I definitely plan on enjoying every moment of it, but it does feel like two weeks until 2L.

Back It Up

My public service annoucement of the day is back up the materials on your computer.

My computer died this morning. I knew it was coming. My computer started slowing down yesterday, some programs did not show up this morning, and then came the blue screen of death. Apparently my harddrive died and my computer won't even turn on now.

I actually did not have a panic attack, which is surprising considering how dependent I am on my computer. But that may have been different had I not just backed up my computer last weekend, already submitted my job applications due tomorrow, finished 90% of my packing, and done a pretty good first draft of my comment so I don't have much left to edit. Ah, for once my neuroticness paid off.

Usually I am a prepared person because my control-freak side gets too nervous about putting things off to the last minute. Although sometimes I am envious about my friends who can put things off until the last minute and still do them well, my little computer debacle really reinforced why I like doing things ahead of time.

I also realized how much more clearly I think when I am not hyperventalitating. Thinking about different ways I could finish my second draft of my comment, I found out that our school loans out computers for a week for people who's computers die (it happens a lot in law school). Thank you school laptop for allowing me to write this blog from the comfort of my apartment.

So in sum: back up and don't freak out.