Dim Sum

Growing up in a predominately white area and having few Asian friends, I always got jokes about how I was not really Asian. And yes, I am guilty of making these jokes too.

But when I went to dim sum today with members of APALSA (the Asian law students group), I realized how many "Asian" parts of my upbringing that I just take for granted. Some of my friends who came along with me, including Alex, had never had the amazingness known as dim sum before.

Although I was no ordering pro like one of my friends who took charge for us and spoke in Mandarin (or is it Cantonese?) to the servers, I at least know that the carts that come out first are not the good stuff. Many novices fall into that trap. I also know what were my favorites (mmm, bbq pork stuffed bun baos) and what I do not like (the custard tartlets). I am glad I finally appreciate good Asian food after spending much of my childhood eating just rice at restaurants.

Risky Behavior

It seems like every day that we open up the newspaper or open up a webpage, there is another politician getting caught for something. Whether it is eleven New Jersey officials being arrested for bribery charges or a politician having an affair/soliciting sex/hiring a prostitute. And everyday, many of us wonder why these people in the public eye do it. Don't they know they will be caught?

People applying their own armchair psychology come up with many answers. These people think they are above the law, they are so self-involved that they do not think about consequences, or the power has deluded their judgment. So just to add another theory to the pile, I wonder if these people are just bigger risk takers.

I have great admiration for many people in public office; I think it can be a wonderful job. However, I also think you have to be a brave soul (translate: nuts) to run. Running for public office is a gamble of money, reputation, and more. So perhaps some of the people who are drawn to that kind of risk are the same people who would risk doing "bad" things and crossing their fingers that they will not get caught.

The risk adverse people who over-think their actions are the ones who go to law school (the most stable degree you can have after engineering) or maybe a chief of staff.

I Heart Huckabee (just a little)

Another day, another Republican joins the race to be President. Although I love Law & Order, I feel no loyalty to former Senator Fred Thompson, and not just because he is an actor. Who I do like, however, is former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Do not love him, do not agree with him on many issues, and certainly would not vote for him. But I can respect the man.

Although many readers of this blog are politicos like me, there are some people who do not follow politics religiously. Probably the majority of Americans would say, "Huckabee, who? He's running for President?" And of the people who have heard of him, they probably just know him as the baptist preacher, Arkansas Governor from Hope, guy who does not believe in evolution who lost 110 pounds.

I remember first reading about him in Time Magazine's spread on the five best governors in the US. Since then, I have heard him on a lot of my dorky political podcasts (Meet the Press, Bill Maher, etc). Some of his views and policies he has supported I agree with: increasing taxes for infrastructure, using tobacco settlement money for health care, and general compassion for illegal immigrants (recognizing that they do pay more taxes than they receive benefits, and that we cannot punish children of illegal immigrants). But most of them I do not: he is against gay marriage/civil unions, for the death penalty, pro-life, for the troop surge, etc.

So what makes Huckabee interesting to me is not his policies, but rather his general philosophy on politics and it seems, life. He seems very firm and consistent in his convictions (unlike some of the candidates) but can have respect for the other side. He once said "Republicans haven't gotten it right all the time . . . Democrats haven't gotten int wrong all the time."

Moreover, Huckabee does not demonize the Clintons. In fact, he gives them credit for working through problems in their marriage and raising a "magnificent daughter." Huckabee added that Republicans cannot have two different sets of moral standards for each party. Thank you.

All in all, these are pretty bold moves for a candidate in the primary, a time when you are supposed to be getting votes from your base. This is why it feels genuine to me.

Perhaps I can say all of this because I am quite certain he will not be the Presidential nominee (though I have a feeling he will be the VP nominee), but I do mean it. Just from my limited experience in politics, the people who I feel are the best leaders are the ones who can appreciate what the other side has to offer.

Just Like High School

One of my favorite parts about being a Dean's Fellow is getting to chat with 1Ls. It is always funny when I hear their reactions to law school. One of the most frequent things that I hear, and that I heard myself last year, was that law school was just like high school. Going from class to class together, the cliques, the gossip, the lockers.

It seems like when people start a lot of new endeavors, people compare it to high school. College, a new job, etc. So it occurred to me: rather than so many things in life being like high school, what if high school was really a reflection of the rest of our lives.

Sure most of us change; some of us may even mature. But it still seems to me that the interactions that we have in high school are ever present in "the real world." For example, superlatives like naming someone most likely to succeed or biggest flirt are just codifying the labels we put on people in our heads today. The way we picked people to eat lunch with is probably similar to how we choose and exclude people from our social circles.

Maybe we compare everything to high school because that was when we really started finding ourselves, or something cliche like that. But what do I know? I actually enjoyed high school (and more strangely, enjoyed jr. high). The only way I can really see if my theory pans out is to have a high school reunion . . . and guess who people expect to plan it? See, they even knew then.

[Side note, Happy 26th Anniversary Mom and Dad!]

The Job

One of the things I always wanted to do at UCLA, but could not, was be a Resident Assistant (RA). I love programming, doing artsy stuff, and playing counselor, but I knew that I could not handle being an RA and President of Bruin Democrats at the same time. No regrets about the path I chose in retrospect though. Not being an RA led to many other opportunities that were much better in terms of my own growth like democratic politics, student government, and probably most importantly: time for a social life.

Moreover, as fate would have it, I have been given the opportunity to be a pseudo-RA to 1L students this year as a Dean's Fellow. I get the joy of having 1Ls come to my office hours and email questions, feed them at events, etc. All without having duty hours or crazy Office of Residential Life training. Although sometimes the job can seem time consuming, it is always worth it when I have one of the 1Ls wave to me in the halls or send a thank you email. My maternal gene has been fulfilled once again.

I have been told that I always luck out, but I do think things can always work out in the end.

Non-Labor Day Weekend, Part Deux

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday that takes place on the first Monday in September. The holiday began in 1882, originating from a desire by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for the "working man."

Well thanks to the Central Labor Union and my spontaneous boyfriend, I got my own mini-vacation this weekend (and hence, no blog yesterday). Even though I was set to work most of yesterday, I got a call from Alex asking if I wanted to go to Target. And really, who turns down Target? The Target trip evolved into dinner, walking around downtown DC, watching Iron Chef and Extreme Home Makeover, driving through Northern Virginia, and more shopping trips today.

After having such a fun weekend and getting the reading I needed done, I wondered if I was still in law school. Then I remembered that tomorrow, I have class at 10am, a meeting at 10:10pm, and many things in between.