I Heart Tim Gunn

For Project Runway Lovers



I have no idea why they did not put this into the show. Oh well. 4 days until the finale!

Finding my Voice

You know how they say that law students love hearing the sound of their own voice? Well as shocking as it may be to some people, I did not. At least not the actual sound of my voice.

Growing up, I used to compete in 4-H public speech contests. My parents and "coach" used to videotape us practicing to do a critique. I could take the critique, but I hated listening to myself. Is that really how I sound, I thought to myself. My voice on tape was so different from how I heard it in my head.

Funny how I did not like how I sounded but I used to do these public speaking competitions, be a lector at church, did the morning announcements over my high school PA system, and decided to become a lawyer.

This past week, I spoke on a panel that was podcasted. I had to make sure that the link worked before I sent the podcast out, but I did not really want to listen to myself. I did, however, and I was shocked. I did not hate the sound of my voice. Nor did I ramble on as much as I thought I did in my head. I know I need to cut down on my "ums" and sound less like a Valley Girl sometimes with my inflexion, but I am (I hope) my own worst critic.

Legalese

Tonight, my friends end I attended Law Revue- the comedy and musical all about law school. Highlights of the performance (which will only make sense to law students, especially at my school):

• Library Tango (to the tune of Chicago's Cellblock Tango). I especially like how the opening listed the names of our printers. Yes, our printers are named
  
• The misery of Short Write-On during Spring Break
  
• The dancing Bluebook
• Professor Vaughn, one of my favorite professors, doing a headstand
  
• Law students competing to see who's life sucks more
• The Professor Rice v. Professor Ventry dynamic

The show reminded me how law school is like one big club- no matter where you go. Throughout February, a few of my friends visited DC. They were all law students, from different schools across the country. Yet when we came together, we spoke in our own language about the same kind of situations. We all deal with gunners, hate legal rhetoric, and have strong preferences for Lexis or Westlaw. I felt bad for the other non-law school friends we were hanging out with. I hope we become more normal after law school.

Favorite Things...

The things that get me through my 13+ hour days at school...

• Listening to our guest speaker in my Public Employment Law class- a Methodist Preacher, turned civil rights protester, turned basket weaver in Crete, turned law student at my school, turned lawyer and President of the Government Accountability Project. Oh, did I mention that he and his organization helped bring down Paul Wolfowitz?
  
• Finding out from the registrar that I got the highest grade in my First Amendment Class last semester. I miss my Constitutional Law Professor.
  
• Coming home today and being surprised by my roommate with a samosa.
• Catching the second showing of Project Runway and watching Top Model on the Slingbox (another great invention).
  
• Realizing that I am 2 Wills, Trusts & Estate classes away from having 2 weeks off of that class.
  
• Being a week away from Spring Break and San Francisco!
  

'Dead to Me'

At the beginning of our Administrative Law class, our professor opens the floor for a few minutes for a general discussion of news- related to admin and not. Today, the guy who sits next to me (who's dad actually is a Congressman), asked our professor what he thought about Ralph Nader running for President.

"He's dead to me," our professor said with a completely straight face.

He then explained that he was partially joking, but partially not. In addition to being blamed for spoiling elections, Ralph Nader also moonlights on and off as a professor at my law school. My professor explained that Nader always comes back to the faculty around election time- expecting them to donate time or money to his campaign. Although my professor fully supports third candidates and "different voices" in the debate, he hates how Nader expects his colleagues to line up behind him when he gives little in return when he is not running for President.

I think the general public feels the same way that my professor does. And as my professor pointed out, the national discourse on this election has been going on for months. Even though they did not get nearly as much attention, candidates such as Tancredo, Kucinich, Hunter, and even Gravel all got their messages out. Does Nader really expect to come in now and get a warm reception?

There is no doubt that Ralph Nader has founded many organizations that do very valuable work. However, he just comes off as an ego maniac who just expects people to support him. And whereas normal people can simply disagree on issues, Nader has a condescending tone to those people who do not agree with him absolutely. I think Obama (or his writers) sums it up best:

You know, he had called me and I think reached out to my campaign — my sense is is that Mr. Nader is somebody who, if you don't listen and adopt all of his policies, thinks you're not substantive. He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work. Now — and by the way, I have to say that, historically, he is a singular figure in American politics and has done as much as just about anybody on behalf of consumers. So in many ways he is a heroic figure and I don't mean to diminish him. But I do think there is a sense now that if somebody is not hewing to the Ralph Nader agenda, then you must be lacking in some way.

"Dead to me. That is the first time I have been able to use that line in class. This is a very special moment." I love my professors.

All Ye Faithful

On the front of every major news website is the new Pew Study about U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Among some of the most cited statistics of this new study are:

• The United States is 78% Christian
  
• Nearly half of American adults leaving the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious affiliation altogether
• Mainline Protestant churches are in decline, but non-denominational churches are gaining
• The Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition because of affiliation swapping
• While nearly one in three Americans were raised Catholic, fewer than one in four say they're Catholic today
  
• That means roughly 10% of all Americans are ex-Catholics.
• Hindus claimed the highest retention, at 84%
• Jehovah's Witnesses claimed the lowest retention, at 37%

This study was interesting, especially the part about the flux in religions. Just yesterday, I jokingly told Alex that maybe I should convert to be an Episcopalian after hearing a great sermon by Bishop Charleston, President and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School.

I will refrain from analyzing the entire sermon, but it was basically about how the two greatest threats facing the world are religious war and global warming, and how religions can come together to reduce carbon emissions. You can check it out the video here. (starts at minute 24). And no, this was not a liberal v. conservative sermon. Rather, Rev. Charleston approached this as a religious person and Native American who felt a duty to protect God's creation.

If the National Cathedral was closer, I would consider going more often. At every church I have been to, I have concluded that one priest is really good and the other two or three are just ok. But the National Cathedral has the "Centennial Celebration of American Preaching Series," where my odds of receiving a compelling, thought provoking, glued-to your-seat-sermon are much higher.

And just to clarify, I do not plan on converting to the Episcopal Church or any other religion. And going to the National Cathedral was my idea, not Alex- who was baptized as an Episcopal, confirmed Lutheran, but does not regularly attend church unless I take him. Finally, I can certainly see why the Catholic Church its losing members, but I am not ready to jump ship.

District of Cheap

Since the weather prevented us from visiting Philadelphia, Alex and I decided to explore DC. Though rent may be expensive around these parts, having a fun weekend does not have to be.

We started off Saturday with a quick pit stop at IKEA to pick up a few things we needed for our respective apartments. I love the deals on housing and organizational knick-knacks in the marketplace and Swedish meatballs with ligonberry sauce in their cafe. I think I am part Swedish at heart.

Next we headed to downtown to go to the National Portrait Gallery. I am not a huge art museum fan, but this is one of my favorites in the DC. And like most DC museums, it is free. The Gallery has all the famous portraits of the Presidents you find in your American history books, as well as great rotating exhibits. Currently, the Gallery has an exhibit: Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture. It was actually really cool, and my favorite was a huge portrait of Ice-T (aka Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola from Law & Order SVU). And of course there is the famous Stephen Colbert portrait up by the bathroom.

After a busy morning, we decided to cancel our dinner reservations at Zola to head back to my apartment to watch the UCLA game and cook dinner. We also took advantage of the Red Box, to rent American Gangster for $1. Good movie, great movie rental idea.

We capped off the weekend by heading to the National Cathedral. This was the first time that I had been to an Episcopal service, which was pretty close to a Catholic one. Though I was sad I missed Rev. Wallis at the 10am mass, Rev. Steven Charelston gave a powerful sermon on the religious obligation to fight global warming. So good. (more tomorrow)

Even if you do not go to a service, I highly recommend visiting the Catheral, which is the 2nd largest in the US and 6th largest world-wide. The architecture and gardens are stunning, as are the 360 degree views from the observatory level.

Finally, we went across the street to 2 Amy's, the famous Neapolitan Pizzaria officially certified by the Italian government. I had always wanted to go, and I figured out explor DC was the perfect time to try. The atmosphere was really fun and the pizza was delizioso! The pizza Alex and I shared was light and airy, with fresh ingredients. I felt like I was in Italy.

I learned that as much fun it is to explore new cities, there is always new things to explore in your own city. Especially if you live in DC, where most attractions are free.