Nancy + Newt

As I was flipping through the channels this afternoon, I had to do a double take when I saw this commercial. I knew I was tired after a long day of ALR training, but was I imagining this? Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich doing a commercial together? About climate change no less?



Slightly awkward but I still thought it was cute. Interestingly, when I googled this commercial, I found it on Newt's webpage first. There were a lot of comments from angry Conservatives, calling Newt a traitor and sell-out. Never would I ever think that I would be on Newt's side. But it seems as though we share something in common other than both being lunch patrons at the Corner Bakery on Vermont and K St.

Hellos and Goodbyes

When you are a 1L, you are pretty isolated from the rest of the law school. You may know a handful of older students, but you mostly associate with the 1Ls that you have all your classes with. Thus, when last year's 3L class graduated, there were few goodbyes.

This year as a 2L, I have become good friends with many 3Ls this year-- mainly through activities such as Admin Law Review (ALR) and the Integrated Curriculum Program. As we had our ALR Symposium, our last major event of the year, and ALR Banquet today, it finally hit me that I will not see so many of my friends next year. The many familiar faces that I am used to seeing when I walk into the ALR office will soon be replaced by the new jr. staff, who we train tomorrow.

There is always that feeling in the school setting: once you finally feel like you become good friends with someone, graduation rolls around. Now this seems more true than ever in law school where the turn-around time is so fast.

It will definitely be sad when I have to say goodbye to the people who trained me last year, who told me which classes to take and mentored me in many other ways, and just were good friends in general.

18th Grade

Today was my last day of classes of my 2L year, or as my friend likes to call it, 18th grade. This year has gone by incredibly quickly and I am scared to think about how fast 3L, my last year of schooling ever, will pass.

18 straight years of schooling and I surprisingly am not burnt out yet. I must be a nerd who likes learning or something.

Farfallegate

Honestly, I have grown tired of this Presidential election and have not been reading in-depth about the continual fighting. However, as I was reading a food blog, I came across the New York Time's article, Family Recipes, Passed Down From One Site to Another. Farfallegate, as it has now been named, is about how McCain's website plagiarized Food Network and Quaker Oats by calling the recipes Cindy Mccain's or McCain Family Recipes.

I find the whole debacle amusing. I give Cindy McCain the benefit of the doubt that she would not actually pass these articles off as her own . . . even if she did go to USC. It probably was, as the McCain camp stated, an intern who copied these recipes down verbatim. Accordingly, I do not think that this is a big deal. Why the farfalle or chocolate chip cookie recipes of potential First Ladies matter is beyond me, but we have judged Presidential candidates on stupider premises, so I am not surprised.

Yet I do wonder whether this would have been a bigger deal had it looked like the wife of a Democratic candidate had plagiarized recipes. I think so.

Pope v. Ghandi

Prompted by my friend's tale of getting stuck behind the Pope's motorcade today, I brought up Pope Benedict declining President Bush's dinner invitation. Shocked, my friends thought about who else could get away with saying no to the President. Ultimately this led to the question: Could Ghandi turn down a dinner with the Pope?

This question basically turned on which leader had more stature, more influence, had more of a following, etc. Being the philosophical, intelligent, and mature law students that we are, here were some highlights from our debate:

• Ghandi has a much larger following, as evidenced by the number of Ghandi quotes on Facebook profiles.
  
• In a physical battle, the Catholics have an upperhand having gone through the Crusades. However, not all Indians practiced civil disobedience, remember what happened to the Sikhs.
  
• No one has ever won an Academy Award for portraying the Pope.
  
• The Pope has the Pope-Mobile. Perhaps if Ghandi had a Ghandi-Mobile, he would not have been assassinated. (We are horrible, I know).
  
• Ghandi could turn down dinner if he was on a hunger strike or the Pope was serving beef, but the Pope would be more considerate than that.
  
• The Vatican has a lot more money, and their own postage stamp.
  

Amazing how nerdy we can be without even referencing the law.

[Photo Source]

Pope Mobile

Pope Benedict is making his first trip to the United States since the white smoke made him Pope. Alex thinks it is funny that people are making a big deal out of this trip because all the Pope has to do is get onto a plane.

Many people have asked me if I am going to any Pope-filled activities, and I just shrug my shoulders. Whereas I always wanted to have dinner with the late John Paul II, I never felt any connection to his successor.

Despite my grandmother telling me that this Pope is very smart, I think I unfairly judged him. His name was Ratzinger, he got stuck with the Pope-name Benedict, he was part of the Hitler Youth (very unfair since pretty much everyone was forced to join and his family was personally against it), the conservative Catholics were pulling for him, and probably most unjustly of all--he looked scary.

However, after reading article on Slate, "God's Rottweiler" Becomes the Church's "Beloved German Shepherd": How Pope Benedict has disappointed the right, I appreciated him a little more. And no, not because I think the Pope's ideology aligns with mine. The article pointed out that even though the Pope has disappointed the right, he is far from being a liberal as well. Rather, the article talked about how the Pope has demonstrated leadership through decisions and actions I never knew about. I felt pretty ridiculous for holding onto these preconceived notions about the Pope.

On a final note, I thought the story about the Pope standing-up the President was pretty funny as well. (WaPo: Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner). Since the Pope's schedule is too busy, President Bush will have to have a Bavarian dinner for the Pope without the Pope. I almost feel a little bad for President Bush.

My roommate and I suspect that since the day of the dinner is the Pope's 81 dinner, Pope Benedict will actually be celebrating at Buca Di Beppo's Pope Room.

Summer Senses

It may be snowing in parts of the country, but it sure feels like summer in DC.

After the hot and sunny weather on Friday, Saturday ushered in warm thunderstorms. As Alex and I ran through the rain to pick up his car from the shop, I thought about how different the droplets felt from the freezing rain that my roommate and I ran through just a week ago. I am still amazed how the weather here fluctuates 30 degrees here day-to-day.

Although I was stuck inside for most of the weekend, outlining Administrative law, I opened up all my windows to let in the gentle breeze and bright sunlight. I could also hear kids playing outside and smell my neighbors grilling.

Apologies for a rather boring post. I get my first final tomorrow and being in finals mode makes me a pretty boring person. Only a few more weeks until my summer starts . . .